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Dettori Named World Pool Ambassador

Frankie Dettori, who is riding his final season in 2023, has been named a World Pool ambassador.

The partnership will see the Italian write regular blogs and content in advance of World Pool racedays this year, beginning with the second day of the $30.35-million Saudi Cup meeting on Saturday, which features the $20-million G1 Saudi Cup, and five Group 3 contests.

Dettori, who is riding 2022 Saudi Cup runner-up Country Grammer (Tonalist) in the 1800-metre Group 1, said, “I've got a lot of different places to visit on my final year in the saddle, so it's great to be working with World Pool who have also increased their reach to other countries and racetracks in 2023. From The Saudi Cup to Dubai and then onto all the major days in the UK and Ireland, it will hopefully be a very exciting season for all of us.”

Michael Fitzsimons, Executive Director Wagering Products of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, added, “Having Frankie on board as a torchbearer in the final year of an incredible career is absolutely brilliant for World Pool. It's a huge year for Frankie and it's the same for World Pool after a record breaking 2022, and we couldn't be more thrilled to be partnering with a global icon who has done so much for the sport of horse racing.”

For more information on the World Pool, please visit their website.

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The Saudi Cup To Be World Pool Event

Sports Information Services (SIS) has entered into an agreement with the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) for six races on the US$31.5- million Saudi Cup race meeting hosted at King Abdulaziz Racecourse on Feb. 25 to become a HKJC World Pool event.

Established in 2019, The Saudi Cup race day has solidified itself on the global racing calendar with horses from 15 countries planning to participate this year. The feature race, the US$20-million G1 Saudi Cup, will showcase last year's top-two finishers in Emblem Road (Quality Road) and Country Grammar (Tonalist).

The HKJC will host the wagering pools on races three through eight on Saudi Cup Day, giving bettors access to the biggest international commingled pools in the world. SIS will coordinate the commercial arrangements with global pool operators. Historically, North America has been the largest participant in the Saudi Cup Day pools and this deal not only benefits that market with increased liquidity from Hong Kong, but attracts additional operators from France, the United Kingdom and Ireland, who join existing operators from Germany, Netherlands, Brazil, Peru and Panama.

“The Saudi Cup is a race that has already firmly established itself in the racing calendar and we are thrilled to have this meeting as part of the World Pool. We aim to include the best international racing events within the World Pool schedule, so it makes sense for the Saudi Cup to join the roster in 2023,” Sam Nati, HKJC's Head of Commingling, said.

The first race will be at 7:45 a.m. EST.

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World Pool Season Expands Internationally

World Pool, the largest commingled horse racing pools created and powered by the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), will expand to 25 fixtures in 2023, with some of the new additions the Lightning S. Day in Australia (Feb. 18), The Saudi Cup (Feb. 25), and Irish Derby Day (July 2).

Provisional World Pool events will be hosted on the following days in 2023:

28: Met Day – Kenilworth Racecourse, South Africa
18: Black Caviar Lightning Race Day – Flemington Racecourse, Australia
25: Saudi Cup – King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
4: Super Saturday – Meydan Racecourse, Dubai
25: Dubai World Cup – Meydan Racecourse, Dubai
May 20: Lockinge S. Day – Newbury Racecourse, UK
July 2: Irish Derby Day – the Curragh, Ireland
July 2: Deutsches Derby Day – Hamburg-Horn, German

The World Pool Moment of the Year has been extended to all global World Pool meetings and will reward stable staff with a total of over HK$1 million (approx. £103,000) in prizes, as well as a VIP trip to Hong Kong, thanks to additional funding from the HKJC, UK Tote Group, Racecourse Media Group (RMG) and Ascot Racecourse. For more information, please visit the World Pool website for more.

Michael Fitzsimons, Executive Director Wagering Products of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, said, “We were absolutely thrilled with the results from our 21 World Pool meetings in 2022 and are excited to be extending that offering to 25 days this year.

“Having Australia and Saudi Arabia on the fixture list of 2023 World Pool meetings is another important step in the globalisation of World Pool, while adding some high-profile British and Irish meetings to the schedule is another exciting advancement.

“To complement our expanding list of World Pool meetings are the Moment of the Day and Moment of the Year initiatives, which for the first time will reward winning stable staff from all countries hosting World Pool races.

“Last year's launch of the competition in the UK and Ireland was met with great feedback from yards across the region and we look forward to opening that up to our World Pool days in South Africa, Australia, Saudi Arabia and Dubai.”

Alex Frost, Chief Executive of the UK Tote Group, said, “We are looking forward to another World Pool season which now extends its reach across eight countries worldwide. For the UK and Ireland, it is welcome to see new additions to this year's schedule, with two races from Newbury's Lockinge Day added, along with Irish Derby Day, taking World Pool events hosted in the UK and Ireland to a total of 18.

“The ambitions for a global wagering platform are already being realised with over 20 pool betting operators now part of World Pool. Last year alone, the UK and Ireland saw record turnover of £521 million across 17 World Pool events, showcasing the best of our racing to a global audience, ensuring an improved value proposition for our own wagering customers and creating a more sustainable funding mechanism for horseracing in the future, with additional income for our racecourse partners.

“Our continued thanks go to our partners the Hong Kong Jockey Club, and in collaboration with RMG and Ascot, we are delighted to see Moment of the Day and Moment of the Year now extended to include all countries hosting World Pool races.”

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HKJC Enjoys Biggest Result In 25 Years

The Year of the Rabbit got off to a racing start for the Hong Kong Jockey Club as its Lunar New Year meeting pulled in HK$2.06 billion (US$255 million) in bets–the biggest daily take since the city's return to Chinese rule in 1997, the South China Morning Post reported.

Punters wagered across the 11 races at Sha Tin on Tuesday and, although the take was beaten by a distance by the record HK$2.54 billion gambled in June 1997, it was a healthy 10.1% increase on last year's event.

“We are absolutely delighted with today's race meeting. The atmosphere was really fantastic and it brought back what we always felt–that Lunar New Year is a very special race meeting,” Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said.

Almost 80,000 people clicked through the Sha Tin turnstiles and the official crowd stood at 84,394–79,354 at Sha Tin and 5,040 watching from Happy Valley–the biggest turnout since the 2019 Lunar New Year races.

The Lunar New Year card drew a bigger crowd than the prestigious Longines Hong Kong International Races last month, with fans shoulder to shoulder in front of a packed grandstand after they flocked to see a pre-races performance by Cantopop star Joey Yung Cho-yee.

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