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Sky Racing World Begins Commingling Of US, Australian Wagering Pools

Sky Racing World has announced a significant enhancement to its content portfolio of International racing by facilitating the commingling of USA wagering pools into Tabcorp hosted pools in Australia (NSW Tote). Starting last month, the commingling of pools became available on Australian Greyhound racing for the first time ever and added to the list of innovative developments from the Australian Greyhound Racing Industry.

The commingling of pools provides improved liquidity, greater stability of odds and a more attractive wagering proposition to USA players overall. It is also anticipated that commingling will enable the number of Australian Greyhound meetings offered each day to increase, which will be a boost to the entertainment options available to USA fans of Greyhound racing and the growth of the Australian industry.

Sky Racing World has distributed the simulcast of Australian Greyhound racing in the USA since June 2020, and it has quickly become popular with USA Greyhound racing fans. Audiences have been able to experience the quality of the Australian Greyhound racing product from a variety of locations across Australia, including the states of Victoria (Melbourne) and New South Wales (Sydney), with feature racing from city tracks like The Meadows and Wentworth Park. Now, they'll also get the added benefit of commingling and improved liquidity.

The last year has been huge for innovation within Greyhound Racing Victoria led by its Board and Chair Peita Duncan. In addition to commingling, it has launched a variety of measures to improve the sport, like The Phoenix, which is the world's only slot race for greyhounds. With eight slots available at $75,000 per slot, there's over $1,145,000 in total prize money to win, along with the winner going home with $750,000 and it run at The Meadows on Saturday, December 18th.

The GRV has been focused on the adoption of greyhounds, with around 3,000 greyhounds being rehomed to loving families in 2020-21. They've also recently launched a new Desexing and Dental Scheme for retired greyhounds, where the GRV will pay for desexing and dental work (up to $400 for a male and up to $500 for a female) to assist in a Greyhound's rehoming.

The Welfare and integrity of greyhounds are paramount for the GRV as a regulator and they've been concentrating on major infrastructure projects that focus on safer racing. An example is the Traralgon track, which is the first of its kind with a redeveloped 'J' design. It's designed to reduce physical stress on greyhounds during their races featuring one turn and a 300-metre straight track, according to research conducted by the University of Technology Sydney. The Victorian Government has invested $3 million dollars, while Greyhound Racing Victoria topped up the investment with $2 million dollars, making it a $5 million dollar project.

On June 18th, the GRV also ran the first Pink Diamond night at the Bendigo Greyhound Racing Club. The series ran at race clubs all over Victoria to reward Victorian bred greyhounds of all ages and abilities, and around $790,000AU in prize money and breeders' bonus were handed to Victorian participants.

All of these impressive feats have brought forward a sport that US players can now access the Australian Greyhound wagering pools (NSW Tote) via Advance-Deposit Wagering (ADW) partners who offer wagering on Greyhounds.

David Haslett, CEO of Sky Racing World, stated: “The commingling of pools provides a significant boost to wagering play on Australian Greyhound racing and it wouldn't have happened without the support of the Australian Greyhound Racing industry, particularly Peita Duncan (Chair, Greyhound Racing Victoria) who helped drive the initiative. Last year, we were proud to introduce the simulcast of Australian Greyhound racing to the USA, but this will take participation to the next level. It is also a great milestone for the Sky Racing World business, Tabcorp and the Australian Greyhound racing industry and its state jurisdictions.”

All races are live-streamed on the new Sky Racing World App, skyracingworld.com and major ADW platforms. Fans can also get free access to past performances and picks at skyracingworld.com.

Sky Racing World is a subsidiary of Tabcorp, Australia's biggest wagering and entertainment company. It retains the exclusive rights to distribute live racing from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea, Singapore, and Japan (NAR) to territories across the Americas and the Caribbean. It also remains the leading digital source for premium tipping content from the Southern Hemisphere's leading race markets and live video broadcasts.

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South Africa: Trainer Snaith Chasing Fourth Straight Win In Historic Durban July Handicap

With Independence Day right around the corner, start your holiday weekend off right with some International horse racing on Saturday Morning, starting with the first post at 5:15am ET. Sky Racing World, the Louisville, Ky.-based distributor of International Thoroughbred racing content, is excited to announce coverage of the historic 125th Durban July Handicap at Greyville Racecourse in South Africa, The race will also be broadcast on TVG and be available on our new Sky Racing World App, which you can find here.

Justin Snaith is going all out with four entries among the 18 runners carded for Greyville on Saturday. He is coming off a hat-trick of wins, having saddled Belgarion to win last year and prior to that Do It Again to back-to-back victories. Both horses are in the line-up again this weekend and will spearhead Snaith's attempt to win Africa's greatest horse race for a fifth time, chasing the seven successes of the legendary Syd Laird and the six of Terrance Millard.

Raced on turf, the Durban July Handicap is open to horses of all ages, but all of them will be chasing after Rainbow Bridge from the off, as the gelding and rider Luke Ferraris have changed their running tactics, won their last three races, and claimed pole position for the upcoming race. Top weight Rainbow Bridge will be looking to win this one for owner Mike Rattray, who been competing in this prestigious race for over four decades.

Despite Rainbow Bridge's pole position, he isn't currently trading as the favorite with 5-1 odds, as it's Got The Greenlight who leads the way with 5-2 odds. The 4-year old was runner-up to Belgarion last year where he was beaten by just shy of one length. Trainer Joey Soma has had the Vodacom Durban July in his sights since Got The Greenlight's loss last year and the colt does appear to have had the ideal preparation. On the other hand, weight could be an issue and Ferraris will need to avoid traffic in a notoriously rough race from his pole position draw.

Even with the number 14 draw, Got The Greenlight's jockey, Muzi Yeni, said, “I was extremely happy with Got The Greenlight's gallop, which was outstanding. He gave me the feel that he has strengthened up even further and he is really in a good space, so it's all positive from my side. I am not too concerned about his No 14 draw as I would prefer not to be caught up in the scrimmage for position in the early stages. All the major players seem to have put up good gallops and all looked very well within themselves so it's going to be a great spectacle.”

Speaking of Belgarion, last year's winner is back again looking for the double, but this time with a different rider. This year he will be going for the win with S'Manga Khumalo, who won the race with steed Heavy Metal back in 2013. Belgarion is a 9-1 favorite to win and fans will be hoping he can go back-to-back.

Make sure not to forget about Do It Again, as he'll be in the race as well, with stable rider Richard Fourie. He'll be looking to make history as the only horse to have won the race three times, after winning in back-to-back years before losing to Belgarion last year. Currently at 8-1 odds, Do It Again last won the race two years ago, but can he follow his name and get it done again?

Also in the field is the three-year-old Linebacker, winner of the Grade 2 KZN Guineas and Grade 1 Daily News 2000, who is the clear second favorite at 7-2. Three-year old horses have an outstanding record in this race over the recent years, so maybe Linebacker can make his mark on the proceedings. Another factor going in the favor of three-year old horses is that they will all carry the minimum weight for their age group going into the race.

Who will win this historic event in 2021? Will it be favorite Got The Greenlight or another one of the horses in the field? Find out on July 3rd on Sky Racing World, our app and on TVG!

The Greyville card will be broadcast live on TVG this Saturday morning (First Post: 5:15 AM ET / 2:15 AM PT). All races will be live-streamed in HD on the new Sky Racing World App, skyracingworld.com and major ADW platforms such as TVG, TwinSpires, Xpressbet, NYRABets, WatchandWager, HPIbet, and AmWager. Wagering is also available via these ADW platforms. Fans can get free access to live-streaming, past performances and expert picks on all races at skyracingworld.com.

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Australia: The Final Group 1 Of The Australian Season

A field of 17 fillies and mares will race to be crowned the final Group 1 winner of Australia's racing season, when the $600,000 Tattersall's Tiara is run this Friday night at Brisbane's Eagle Farm racecourse (first post: 9:43 p.m. ET / 6:43 p.m. PT). The seven-furlong feature highlights a nine-race card and created a conundrum for one of Australia's elite riders.

Melbourne jockey Craig Williams has reaped the benefits of a decision to base himself in Brisbane throughout Queensland's “Winter Racing Carnival,” as COVID-19 flare-ups have caused state border closures resulting in restricted opportunities for some of his peers. Williams has collected a G1 victory, three G2s and a pair of listed stakes, and he stole the show at Eagle Farm two weeks ago by winning three stakes races across the second half of the card. The astute rider was the first to identify an outside bias, which he exploited to full advantage at odds of 16-1, 11-1 and 7-1. If a fan were leaning over the outside rail enjoying a hot dog during the finale, “Willo” almost could have snatched it as he brought Brooklyn Hustle from last of 15 at the 1/8-pole. That win, in the G2 Dane Ripper Stakes, would normally guarantee a return mount for Williams in Friday night's Tattersall's Tiara. Both races are restricted to fillies and mares, and five of the last seven Tatt's Tiara winners have come through the Dane Ripper. However, another of Craig Williams' wins two weeks ago was the G1 Stradbroke Handicap, in which Tofane defeated males and repaid the faith of her owners, who withdrew the soon-to-be 6-year-old from a broodmare sale last month.

“It was like choosing between my daughters, which no parent wants to do. It was a really tough decision,” said the 44-year-old winner of 64 G1 races in six countries.

Ultimately, Williams has stuck with Tofane (4-1 favorite), whose only two starts at seven furlongs have yielded two G1 wins over males. Brooklyn Hustle (10-1) will have the services of veteran local jockey Michael Cahill, who won a pair of G1s during the last full-length Winter Racing Carnival in 2019. Odeum, one of two 3-year-old fillies, is the 6-1 second choice off an excellent second to Brooklyn Hustle, whom she meets 5 1/2 pounds better for a ½-length defeat.

Savatiano (7-1) is the most likely of a Godolphin trio to “wear the Tiara.” The 6-year-old daughter of Street Cry finished 3rd as favorite when the race was last run, in 2019. Hugh Bowman seeks a 100th G1 win aboard Subpoenaed (10-1), the best fancied of three entrants for trainer Chris Waller, with whom Bowman collaborated to famous effect throughout the record-breaking career of Winx.

As a successful Queensland “Winter Racing Carnival” draws to a close (following a pandemic-abbreviated version in 2020), optimism abounds that the state will be granted an increase in G1 races next season. Queensland currently hosts eight of Australia's 74 G1s, but Zaaki's victories in the Gold Coast's Hollindale Stakes and Eagle Farm's new Q22 give those races an excellent chance for elevation from G2 status. The 2021-22 season begins on Aug. 1, with Sydney's “Royal Randwick” set to stage the country's first G1 – the Winx Stakes – on the night of Aug. 20. In the meantime, Australian racing will continue to offer big fields and tremendous wagering value from multiple tracks on a nightly basis.

The Eagle Farm card will be broadcast live on TVG this Friday night (first post: 9:43 p.m. ET / 6:43 p.m. PT) alongside cards from Randwick, Newcastle and Belmont. All races will be livestreamed in HD on the new Sky Racing World App, skyracingworld.com and major ADW platforms such as TVG, TwinSpires, Xpressbet, NYRABets, WatchandWager, HPIbet, and AmWager. Wagering is also available via these ADW platforms. Fans can get free access to live-streaming, past performances and expert picks on all races at skyracingworld.com.

A native of Brisbane, Australia, Michael Wrona has called races in six countries. Wrona's vast U.S. experience includes race calling at Los Alamitos, Hollywood Park, Arlington and Santa Anita, calling the 2000 Preakness on a national radio network and the 2016 Breeders' Cup on the international simulcast network. Wrona also performed a race call voiceover for a Seinfeld episode called The Subway.

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Australia: Zaaki To Star On Stradbroke Day

The Stradbroke Handicap and J.J. Atkins Stakes stood like beacons last year, as the only Group 1 races held during a pandemic-shortened Queensland “Winter Racing Carnival.” This Friday night, at Brisbane's Eagle Farm racecourse, their thunder might be stolen by a new race boasting the sport's biggest new name – Zaaki. Tune in to TVG or stream on the new Sky Racing World App (First Post: 9:29 p.m. ET / 6:29 p.m. PT).

Zaaki rendered racing fans breathless when pulverizing the G1 Doomben Cup field in stakes record time three weeks ago. Zaaki's star is ascendant on a similar arc to that of 30-year-old Annabel Neasham, who celebrated her second G1 winner in her first year of training. Neasham's original plan was to rest Zaaki after the Doomben Cup, while targeting Melbourne's prestigious W.S. Cox Plate in October. However, the lure of a $1.2 million purse for the Q22 – under the same weight-for-age conditions and at the same distance (1 3/8 miles) as the Doomben Cup – has proven irresistible. And, in an ominous warning for Zaaki's opposition, Neasham declared, “He pulled up superb and certainly hasn't taken a backward step since. I can't see why he's not going to turn up in the same form.”

It is somewhat surprising – but a big boost for the new Q22 – that 15 horses will take their chances against Zaaki, who was installed a prohibitive 1-2 favorite. Just as his multitude of opponents might be competing for worthwhile minor paychecks, wagering might be heavily slanted towards the exacta pool.

Toffee Tongue (10-1) completed the Doomben Cup exacta and is the “favorite” to again finish closest to Zaaki. Spirit Ridge (16-1) brings a recent G3 victory into the equation. Paths of Glory (30-1) finished a sound third behind Spirit Ridge and has the distinction of being the last horse to defeat Zaaki – by a head in April at Randwick, when carrying 13 pounds less; they meet at level weights in the Q22. Vanna Girl (also 30-1) gives the impression she will appreciate her first assignment beyond 1-1/4 miles.

If the race for second in the Q22 is wide open, there are candidates galore for the Stradbroke Handicap (G1) winner's circle. Vega One was a close, unlucky fourth in last year's race and is 5-1 favorite to make amends this Friday night. Supporters will hope he didn't use up a year's worth of luck when winning the G1 Kingsford Smith Cup two weeks ago. Melbourne's leading rider, Jamie Kah (in the yellow silks in this replay), produced a miraculous “steer” to navigate a passage. Kah is stuck in Melbourne, which has entered another lockdown, and Vega One will be ridden by another of Australia's star female jockeys, Sydney's Rachel King.

Wild Planet (6-1) and The Harrovian (8-1) filled the minor placings in the G1 Doomben 10,000 (whose winner, the outstanding Eduardo, is enjoying a well-deserved layoff). Mr Quickie (9-1), who won the 2019 Queensland Derby at 1 1/2 miles, has become most effective as a late closer in races from seven furlongs to a mile. He has been kept fresh for the Stradbroke's seven furlongs, and will be ridden for the first time by James McDonald – two hours after Sydney's leading jockey pilots Zaaki in the Q22. Regardless of his Stradbroke result, Melbourne-based Mr Quickie will spend some time relaxing in Queensland's perfect mid-year weather. Even if not competing, many southern horses benefit from “wintering' in Australia's northeast. Mr Quickie's trainer, Phillip Stokes, summed up the Sunshine State's broad appeal: “It's the place to be at this time of year.”

Friday night's other G1 race is the J.J. Atkins Stakes for 2-year-olds at a mile. Hugh Bowman rides Port Louis (7-2) and is currently one win away from becoming just the fourth Australia-based jockey to register 100 G1 triumphs. Apart from the significant contribution by Winx (25), Bowman's total includes four G1s in Hong Kong and one in Japan. The 40-year-old reached 99 G1 wins by producing a peach of a ride, from a wide gate, in last week's Queensland Oaks on Duais. Port Louis has been luckless in consecutive races beneath Bowman from wide draws.

“Surely I'm due for a better marble in a big race,” said Bowman early this week … before being dealt gate 13 of 14.

Favoritism for the J.J. Atkins rests with Converge at 5-2.

Eagle Farm's card boasts an average field size of 12, with several favorites above 4-1. Last week on TVG, I recommended a six-horse exacta box on an Eagle Farm race. A 5-2 winner over a 15-1 runner-up yielded $56.25 for a $30 investment. I will be on the lookout for similar opportunities this week.

The Eagle Farm card will be broadcast live on TVG this Friday night (first post: 9:29 p.m. ET / 6:29 p.m. PT) alongside cards from Randwick, Newcastle and Gold Coast. All races will be live-streamed in HD on the new Sky Racing World App, skyracingworld.com and major ADW platforms such as TVG, TwinSpires, Xpressbet, NYRABets, WatchandWager, HPIbet, and AmWager. Wagering is also available via these ADW platforms. Fans can get free access to live-streaming, past performances and expert picks on all races at skyracingworld.com.

A native of Brisbane, Australia, Michael Wrona has called races in six countries. Wrona's vast U.S. experience includes; race calling at Los Alamitos, Hollywood Park, Arlington and Santa Anita, calling the 2000 Preakness on a national radio network and the 2016 Breeders' Cup on the International simulcast network. Wrona also performed a race call voiceover for a Seinfeld episode called The Subway.

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