Ascot's King George day popular as £475 million bet on British and Irish World Pool days

International punters bet £475 million (HK$ 4.7bn) into the commingled World Pool across 19 racedays in Britain and Ireland this year, with King George day at Ascot proving to be particularly popular with bettors in 2023.

While turnover dropped marginally this year compared to last year, when £515m (HK$4.9bn) was bet into the pools, the King George meeting at Ascot in July, when Hukum defeated Westover in a pulsating finish to the Group 1, recorded an increase of 13 per cent in turnover from last year.

Champions Day at Ascot was the final World Pool day in Europe this year, with punters betting £21.4m into the combined pool. Two more World Pool days are set to take place this year in Australia on Cox Plate day and Victoria Derby day.

Created by the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) and administered in Britain and Ireland by the Tote, the World Pool has become an important new source of revenue for racecourses, who receive up to £800,000 per World Pool raceday they stage.

Michael Fitzsimons, executive director of wagering products at the HKJC, said: "We are really pleased with how World Pool has been received in the UK and Ireland again this year and the turnover figures look strong against a challenging economic backdrop.

"There are many more opportunities for growth in the UK and Ireland, and we look forward to being able to roll out World Pool at even more of the season’s flagship race days. Having the Lockinge, the Irish Derby and the Sun Chariot as World Pool events for the first time this year worked really well, and we look forward to adding more days in the future.

"We’d like to thank all of our partners, including the UK Tote, Racecourse Media Group and Ascot Racecourse – who have all been with us since World Pool was first created in 2019 – for all their hard work in making it another highly successful season."

Frankie Dettori drew large viewing figures to ITV Racing on SaturdayCredit: Edward Whitaker

Champions Day proved popular with punters and with television viewers, with ITV Racing recording its best figures for the meeting since 2020.

The fixture represented Frankie Dettori’s final day riding in Britain before his relocation to the US for the next stage of his career. The peak audience for the day came for Dettori’s winning ride on King Of Steel in the Champion Stakes, with 738,000 people watching the success, an increase of 11 per cent on last year’s peak figure.

The average audience for ITV Racing on Saturday, which was broadcast on the main ITV channel, was 526,000 – up eight per cent from 2022 – with an audience share of 7.4 per cent, compared to 7.2 per cent last year.

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