Hong Kong executives heading to Ascot to discuss World Pool

Senior executives from the Hong Kong Jockey Club betting division are heading to Ascot on Victoria Cup day to discuss latest developments before the launch of the co-mingled World Pool, in association with the racecourse and Totepool, at the royal meeting in seven weeks' time.

Top of their list of priorities will be to ensure the technology behind the revolutionary venture is foolproof, with their minds concentrated by a costly glitch at the weekend in the co-mingling system that already exists between Totepool and the HKJC, but which did not involve the Ascot project.

Total turnover into the HKJC pools on FWD Champions Day at Sha Tin was down five per cent on 2018 at HK$1.449 billion (£143m), and although part of the drop could be attributed to the prohibitive odds returned by local favourite Beauty Generation in a seven-runner field, a system failure at the UK end also played a part, according to HKJC director of racing business and operations Bill Nader.