Major milestone for World Pool as Australian autumn concludes
World Pool
18/04/2024
The second day of The Championships marked the first time that a 10-race card was offered from a single track
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Pride Of Jenni scored a remarkable win in the G1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Credit: Martin King)
Wednesday 17th April, 2024 – World Pool marked a major new milestone in Australia last Saturday as Randwick’s 10-race card was offered in its entirety – the first time that 10 races from any one venue were available for betting through the largest globally commingled horse racing pools created and powered by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
Saturday’s second day of The Championships from Royal Randwick was taken for betting worldwide, with all three of Australia’s parimutuel pools – NSW TAB, S-TAB and UBet – again joining together to create a national pool that then commingled with other operators abroad.
On a day which featured a remarkable G1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) victory by the front-running Pride Of Jenni, turnover fell just shy of HK$280 million (A$55.77 million) across the 10 races with five bet types – Win, Place, Quinella, Quinella Place (Duet) and Tierce (Trifecta) – offered as World Pool options.
With the Quinella and Quinella Place pools combined forming more than half of the total turnover recorded, unprecedented value and price stability was on offer on a day that generally featured large and competitive fields.
The AUD$8,000 World Pool Moment of the Day was awarded to Christine Duffy, the groom of $1 million Polytrack Provincial-Midway Championships Final (1400m) winner Territory Express. The four-year-old is one of only four horses in the stable of Paul Niceforo, who survived a stroke and two heart attacks last year and is now dreaming of the Cox Plate with his stable star.
Duffy, the partner of Group 1-winning jockey Robbie Dolan, is now in the running to win a trip to Hong Kong next year should Territory Express’ victory be selected as the World Pool Moment of the Year.
World Pool will next be seen in action on 2000 Guineas Day from Newmarket, with Australia to return to the roster later this year.
Michael Fitzsimons, Executive Director, Wagering Products of the HKJC, said: “Australia has been a great addition to our World Pool coverage and it was terrific to break new ground again with the first full 10-race card from Randwick. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and we cannot wait to return to Australia later in the year. For now, we are looking forward to our UK debut for 2024 and what will be a big Flat season ahead in the northern hemisphere.”
Upcoming World Pool events to be hosted in coming weeks include:
May
Saturday 4: 2000 Guineas Day – Newmarket Racecourse (F)
Sunday 5: 1000 Guineas Day – Newmarket Racecourse (P)
Saturday 18: Lockinge Stakes Day – Newbury Racecourse (P)
Sunday 26: Irish 1000 Guineas Day – Curragh Racecourse (P)
*F: Full meeting - World Pool coverage on all races in the relevant meeting
P: Part meeting - World Pool coverage only on selected races in the relevant meeting
