Tote set to return to Chester and Bangor in 2020 and take on Cup sponsorship

The Tote are to return to Chester and Bangor in 2020 after an absence of eight years following the news that the UK Tote Group and Chester Race Company have agreed a four-year partnership.

As part of the deal the Tote will sponsor the Chester Cup and become the on-course betting partner for both Chester and Bangor.

Chester and Bangor launched their own in-house betting service in 2012 which resulted in the Tote ceasing to offer a service at both tracks.

From 2020 the Tote will supplement the existing ChesterBet operation, while from February they will become the "exclusive pool betting solution" at Bangor, replacing Bangor Bet. The Bangor Sport Betting Shop will remain in place.

Chester chief executive Richard Thomas said: "We are excited to have agreed this innovative partnership with the UK Tote Group.

"Our priority is to provide racegoers the very best experience when visiting our racecourses and the return of the Tote on-course ensures our customers will benefit from an efficient and varied betting experience, delivered via a newly enhanced service."

Chester will deliver its existing range of win, place, forecast and tricast bets via ChesterBet, alongside a new range of bets, including the Placepot, Quadpot and Scoop6, through the Tote.

The Tote-sponsored Chester Cup will have a prize fund of £154,000 in 2020, making it the most valuable race run at the course, while the Tote will sponsor a number of other races at the Boodles May festival and other meetings at Bangor and Chester throughout the year.

UK Tote Group chief executive Alex Frost said: "We are delighted to be working with Chester Race Company to ensure pool betting is once again available to the quarter of a million people who visit Chester and Bangor racecourses every year.

"I would like to thank Richard and his team for the forward-thinking and dynamic way that they have approached our new partnership.

"We look forward to once again seeing the Tote sponsoring the historic Chester Cup and further developing the ways in which the Tote can support and promote racing at Chester and Bangor racecourses."

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