SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
World Pool has reported a total turnover of HK$1.27bn (approx. $161.8m) across its five fixtures for Q1.
Its year-on-year turnover for the quarter has increased by 70% compared to 2022’s Q1 total of HK$745.4m (approx. $94.9m).
Globally commingled bets from more than 20 countries saw an average of HK$254m (approx. $32.6m) bet on each of the fixtures, which were Met Day, Lightning Stakes Day, The Saudi Cup, Dubai Super Saturday and the Dubai World Cup.
Meydan Racecourse’s Dubai World Cup card attracted the highest turnover of HK$315.2m (approx. $40.2m), and was won by Japanese raider Ushba Tesoro.
Met Day from Kenilworth, Dubai Super Saturday and The Dubai World Cup all saw increases in turnover from last year, again with the latter’s card seeing the highest growth of 12%, up HK$33.6m.
Michael Fitzsimons, Executive Director, Wagering Products, The Hong Kong Jockey Club, stated: “World Pool continues to grow year-on-year and results from Q1 have been excellent, with growth across all fixtures as well as strong turnover at new fixtures that were added this year.
“We now look forward to returning to the UK for a busy Q2 period, which includes all five days of Royal Ascot, where we have seen our strongest turnover figures in the past.”
The Dubai World Cup itself recorded the highest turnover of any race in Q1 with HK$54.5m (approx. $6.9m) bet on the contest, while The Saudi Cup (HK$48.4m) and the Dubai Sheema Classic (HK$46.5m) ranked second and third.
Lightning Stakes Day and The Saudi Cup, which were both fixtures for 2023, yielded strong turnover figures of HK$253m (approx. $33.2m) and HK$197.8m (approx. $25.2m), respectively.
Equinox returned the shortest priced winner of Q1, winning the Dubai Sheema Classic at odds of 1.6, and Dubai World Cup night also produced the longest priced winner, with Danyah at 69.7 winning the Al Quoz Sprint.
“We’re hopeful of building on the strong performance of Q1, while continuing to offer an unrivalled product in terms of liquidity and value for punters around the world,” Fitzsimons concluded.
World Pool will next be in operation for 2000 Guineas Day from Newmarket on 6 May. This will be one of eight UK fixtures in the second quarter.
