World Pool events in Britain and Ireland will be hosted on the following days in 2022:

• QIPCO 2000 Guineas Day – Newmarket Rowley Mile Racecourse, Saturday 30^th April
• Cazoo Oaks Day – Epsom Downs Racecourse, Friday 3^rd June
• Cazoo Derby Day – Epsom Downs Racecourse, Saturday 4^th June
• Royal Ascot – Ascot Racecourse, Tuesday 14^th to Saturday 18^th June
• QIPCO King George Diamond Day – Ascot Racecourse, Saturday 23^rd July
• Qatar Goodwood Festival – Goodwood Racecourse, Tuesday 26^th to Thursday 28^th July
• Ebor Festival – York Racecourse, Wednesday 17^th to Friday 19^th August
• Longines Irish Champions Day – Leopardstown, Saturday 10^th September
• QIPCO British Champions Day – Ascot Racecourse, Saturday 15^th October

As a collaboration of global Totes, World Pool enables racing fans from all over the globe to bet into a single pool. This creates huge liquidity and excellent value for racing fans. In 2021, £363 million was bet into the pools with a 15% higher return to a £1 bet compared to the industry Starting Price for online customers of the Tote. For example, the biggest World Pool in 2021 was on the Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes at York which was £3.99 million, with the winner Winter Power paying 14.46 with the Tote compared to 9/1 SP.

Launch of World Pool “Moment of the Year” to celebrate the best performances

For the first time, a World Pool “Moment of the Day” will be awarded by an industry representative at the 16 World Pool days in the lead up to British Champions Day, with the moment decided by a standout performance. This could include a wide-margin winner; a winner from an unlikely position; an extraordinary turn of foot at any point in the race; an above expectation performance by an outsider; or a human or equine interest story.

Racing staff who look after the winning horse for each World Pool “Moment of the Day” will receive £1,000 and a bottle of champagne.

At the end of the World Pool season, the 16 winners of “Moment of the Day” at World Pool events will compete for the overall World Pool “Moment of the Year”, which will be presented on British Champions Day. The overall winner will be determined by a combination of scores derived from a public vote and an industry panel.  The winning yard who looks after the horse will be awarded the World Pool Moment of the Year and receive £34,000.

There are seven bet types in World Pool for 2022, including the Exacta and Treble for the first time. These are set out below:

• Win (Single Leg bet) – Pick the winner of the race
• Place (Single Leg bet) – Pick a horse to be placed. Hong Kong place terms apply
• Exacta (Single Leg bet) – Pick the first two horses in the correct order
• Trifecta (Single Leg bet) – Also known as the Tierce. Select the winner, the second, and the third horse in the correct order
• Quinella (Single Leg bet) – Select the first two finishers in either order
• Swinger (Single Leg bet) – Also known as the Quinella Place, Pick two horses to finish 1st, 2^nd, or 3rd in any order
• Treble (Multi Leg bet) – Pick the first horse in three races

Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, said: “Having been launched at Royal Ascot in 2019, in partnership with Ascot racecourse and UK Tote, we are delighted that World Pool is now in its fourth year and going from strength to strength. It provides a global wagering platform to improve the customer experience and generates additional income to our valued partners, contributing to the sustainability of racing and the funding of prize money. I have been advocating for international commingling since 2007 so the positive response from bettors and racing jurisdictions to this important innovation in pool betting has been incredibly beneficial for all involved, resulting in greater exposure for British and Irish racing and their major race meetings.”

John Williamson, Chairman of the UK Tote Group, said: “Led by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the collaboration between British and Irish racecourses and many other parties to create World Pool and further internationalise the sport is a welcome and important achievement. We hope many more owners and trainers will support World Pool events.  Providing healthy field sizes of at least seven runners facilitates a full suite of bets for racing fans on each raceday and will surely increase the financial return from these meetings. We commend the vision shown by the Hong Kong Jockey Club and support the greater cooperation we are now seeing across the sport. Building on this momentum will ensure not only the greater success of World Pool, but also of our industry as a whole.”

Martin Stevenson, Chief Executive Officer of Racecourse Media Group, which represents the media interests of The Jockey Club, Goodwood, and York racecourses, said: “World Pool ensures the sport benefits from global betting activity, with participating racecourses able to use the additional income to fund increases in prize money in 2022 which in many cases already exceeds pre-Covid 19 levels for World Pool racedays. We look forward to broadcasting and showcasing World Pool days to audiences all around the world.”

Suzanne Eade, Chief Executive of Horseracing Ireland, said: “We are delighted Irish Champion Stakes Day at Leopardstown will be a World Pool event for the second year. This clearly underlines the benefits of collaborating to grow pool betting to the benefit of racing fans and the whole sport. We look forward to continuing work with the Hong Kong Jockey Club and all involved in World Pool to ensure its continued success.”

George McGrath, Chief Executive of the National Association of Racing Staff, said: “The World Pool Moment of the Day is a very welcome initiative and it’s fantastic that racing staff will be recognised for their vital role in racing. I am delighted and proud that my members will be the beneficiaries of the £50,000 worth of prizes on offer for the top performances across the summer. It’s great that the public, along with industry representatives, will be involved in deciding The World Pool Moment of the Year which will add to the excitement around QIPCO British Champions Day as the finale of the flat season.”

Please visit https://worldpool.hkjc.com/ for full details about World Pool and follow @WorldPool on Twitter for all the latest news.

ENDS.