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Sydney, Melbourne and Dubai combine for mammoth international World Pool card

World Pool

28/03/2024

Middle distance clashes and exciting handicaps in Australia join with one of the great nights in global racing from Meydan

  • Cascadian wins last year’s Australian Cup at Flemington. He returns to defend his title in the opening race of a World Pool meeting that extends from Australia to the Middle East.
    Cascadian wins last year’s Australian Cup at Flemington. He returns to defend his title in the opening race of a World Pool meeting that extends from Australia to the Middle East.

Thursday 28th March, 2024 - World Pool, the largest globally commingled horse racing pools created and powered by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, will bring together top-class international racing over 12 hours this Saturday with four races from Australia and eight from the Dubai World Cup meeting at Meydan.

Australian racing makes another World Pool appearance, having proved a popular addition since it was first offered in February last year.

Pools have averaged more than AUD$1 million per race so far on each Australian race offered for betting into World Pool, with October’s Cox Plate cracking the top five races on record in terms of overall turnover.

The 12-race World Pool action will begin at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne with two contests, headlined by the G1 TAB Australian Cup (2000m) featuring seven Group 1 winners including Mr Brightside, Pride Of Jenni and Cascadian.

A race with a history extending back over 160 years, it has been won by some of the greats since adopting its current status as a 2000-metre weight-for-age contest. Horses like Dulcify, Bonecrusher, Let’s Elope, Saintly, Octagonal, Northerly and Makybe Diva have all won the autumn feature.

There will also be two races from Rosehill Racecourse, including the G1 Kia Tancred Stakes (2400m) in which British-trained stayer Post Impressionist takes on a field that includes Group 1-winning three-year-old Tom Kitten.

While the Melbourne Cup is renowned as the race most often targeted by international stables, it was the Tancred Stakes that first opened Australia to global competition in 1988. However, Post Impressionist would be the first European-prepared winner should he win, joining local heroes like Kingston Town, Bonecrusher, Octagonal, Might And Power, Tie The Knot, Makybe Diva and Verry Elleegant.

Later in the evening, the Dubai World Cup meeting from Meydan will take centre stage with all eight Thoroughbred races on offer to World Pool customers. Some of the world’s best horses will do battle on both dirt and turf, including Hong Kong quartet California Spangle, Sight Success (both in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint), Voyage Bubble and Straight Arron (both in the G1 Dubai Turf).

Last year’s Dubai World Cup meeting saw betting turnover hit HK$315.2m, a record for the meeting and ranking within the all-time top 10 of World Pool racedays.

The action begins at 12:40pm Hong Kong time with Sunlight Classic (G3) in Flemington, concluding with the world’s second richest race – the US$20 million G1 Dubai World Cup (2000m) – at 12:35am.

There will be five bet types available – Win, Place, Quinella, Quinella Place (Duet) and Tierce (Trifecta) – offering World Pool punters unrivalled choice and value.

One World Pool Moment of the Day winner will be chosen from the eight race winners at Meydan this Saturday, with £4,000 on offer for the winning groom. They will also gain entry into the World Pool Moment of the Year competition for the chance to win a trip to Hong Kong next year.

Michael Fitzsimons, Executive Director, Wagering Products of the HKJC, said: “We are excited to offer our World Pool customers all over the world a tremendous suite of races this Saturday from both Australia and Dubai. All four races from Australia are competitive and will surely be embraced by bettors from all over the world, while the Dubai World Cup meeting is one of the most exciting on the calendar each year. Not only does it see formlines from all over the world collide, but it also sees customers in different parts of the world taking advantage of being able to bet into a deep global market offering great value. The benefits of World Pool are never more evident than on global meetings like this.”