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World Pool, developed by the Hong Kong Jockey Club and the largest commingled horse race pools in the world, delivered unprecedented value to customers from around the globe. Tote+ Win beat SP in 83% out of 35 races over the five-day event.
The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes on Saturday broke the World Pool record for a single race. The pool was topped by HK$66.2m (PS6.6m), which is more than the HK$66.1m in the Derby of 2022.
The two other biggest pools were the Ribblesdale Stakes and Friday’s Commonwealth Cup, both of which generated HK$50.5m.
The World Pool’s Saturday total of HK$323.4m (PS32.5m), is the third-highest World Pool day ever, after the Friday (HK$351.8m), and Saturday (HK$340.9m), of Royal Ascot in 2022.
Royal Ascot’s 2023 World Pool total reached HK$1.5bn (PS154m). This is only a fractionally lower than last year’s HK$1.6bn, which was a 35% increase over 2021.
Royal Ascot Tote Customers Get Exceptional Value
World Pool is a partnership of global Totes with customers betting from a growing list of 28 different countries. This creates incredibly high liquidity for racing fans and offers them excellent value.
The Tote offers customers an exceptional value for money across 35 races at Royal Ascot.
- Tote+ Win beat SP on 29 out of 35 races. (and was matched online for the remaining six races, with Tote Guarantee).
- The Tote+ win overround was 106%, compared to SP overround 125%
- Tote+ Exacta won 32 of 35 races and paid out an average of 85% more than the forecast (1-2).
- Tote+ Trifecta paid more than twice as much on average for Tricast (1-2-3), in 29 of 32 races.
The World Pool “Moment of the Day”, winning grooms of Royal Ascot
A representative of the industry awards the “Moment of the Day”, which is determined by the performance of the day.
This season, the prize money was increased significantly. Each winning groom received PS4,000 as their Moment of the Day Prize, up from PS1,000 back in 2022. They were also entered into the World Pool’s “Moment of the Year”, where they may win a VIP trip for two to Hong Kong, in 2024.
The winners of the contest were:
- Tuesday: Sydney Cale is the groom of Bradsell who won the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes. Hollie Doyle became the first woman jockey at Royal Ascot to win a Group 1.
- Wednesday: Viktor Konya is the groom of Mostahdaf who won the Group 1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.
- Jack Abbey is the jockey of Desert Hero who won the King George V Stakes and gave The King his very first Royal Ascot winner.
- Friday, Page Harrison, the groom of Shaquille who won Group 1 Commonwealth Cup and gave trainer Julie Camacho first Group 1 win.
- Saturday, Babu Singh, the groom of Pyledriver who won the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes. He is the first horse in history to win the World Pool Moment of the Day a second time after winning the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes 2022.
Ascot Racecourse and UK Tote extend their partnership with the Hong Kong Jockey Club for another five years
The HKJC announced on Saturday that it had renewed a World Pool partnership with Ascot Racecourse for a period of five years to continue to promote racing globally.
The HKJC and Ascot Racecourse signed a renewal agreement at Royal Ascot, on Friday, 23 June, that will cover the period from 1 July 2020 to 2028.
The UK Tote had signed a five-year contract with the HKJC earlier in the week. This agreement saw the UK Tote becoming the exclusive partner of World Pool for the UK and Ireland.
Winfried Englebrecht-Bresges is the Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Jockey Club. He said: “Royal Ascot has produced outstanding racing again, and it’s clear that international racing enthusiasts have embraced both the quality and depth in the fields over the five days. World Pool provides the best racing from around the world to customers. The Hong Kong Jockey Club, which launched World Pool in Royal Ascot four years ago, has established and strengthened a number of World Pool partnerships all over the world. We are thrilled at the progress made so far.”
Michael Fitzsimons said: “Royal Ascot provided racing fans around the world with five unforgettable days of world-class sport. We are extremely pleased with the turnover numbers and the clear value proposition World Pool offered. Thursday will be remembered for Their Majesties the King and Queen’s first Royal Ascot Winner and World Pool Ambassador Frankie Dettori taking the Gold Cup on his last ride.
“The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes generated a record turnover for a World Pool Race, and we were delighted to see Wellington rise to the challenge along with strong representation from countries around the globe. World Pool was created to achieve this. It was created to demonstrate how international collaboration can lead to the best international racing. “We couldn’t be happier about how World Pool has developed, and would like to thank and congratulate Ascot Racecourse sincerely for putting on a five-day race that was so enjoyable.”
Alastair warwick, Chief Executive of Ascot Racecourse said: “After announcing our five-year World Pool renewal this week with The Hong Kong Jockey Club, it was incredible to end Royal Ascot by breaking the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes turnover record. This race showed the power of overseas challengers. The racing was fantastic, with strong fields of horses and fierce competition. This is what all punters want to see.
We would like to thank the Hong Kong Jockey Club and the Tote for their excellent representation at Ascot.
Alex Frost is the Chief Executive of UK Tote Group. He said: Once again Royal Ascot was five days filled with incredible racing, both surprising and popular results. The highlights included a win for Their Majesties The King & The Queen as well as four wins for Frankie Dettori. Pyledriver also had more success on the highest level. The Tote, which offers customers pools of more than PS30 million per day, provided great value during the Royal Meeting. 29 winners paid out higher than the Starting Price of the industry and the Tote operated with an overround 106% compared to bookmakers’ 125%.
“We have seen the UK digital volume into the pool more than double, as racing fans recognize the value of the Tote. This gives us a great momentum for the remainder of the World Pool 2023 season in the UK. We will continue to grow Tote, which is so vital to ensure that the sport in the UK remains financially viable.
“We are grateful for the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s global leadership in World Pool, and their support of the racing industry. We will continue to work with the Hong Kong Jockey Club to develop pool betting and grow World Pool in the wake of our new five-year contract.
“Finally congratulations to Alastair and the entire Ascot team on delivering an absolutely magical five days.”
Visit http://worldpool.hkjc.com/ for full details on World Pool. Follow @WorldPool to get the latest updates.
