Reports of the demise of the horse racing industry are entirely premature if recent events at the Hong Kong Jockey Club are any indication. Players pushed the turnover at the recent G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee S (Royal Ascot) to $66.2 million HK ($8.46 million USD), a new record for the World Pool.
Saturday’s huge cash haul broke the previous record of $66.1 million HK ($8.44 million USD) which was set at the 2022 G1 Betfred Derby.
Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, CEO of the HKJC commented on the big day in comments reported on by Thoroughbred Racing Daily saying, “Royal Ascot once again produced exceptional racing and it is clear that international racing fans have embraced the quality and depth of fields across the five days. World Pool offers the best international racing for customers across the globe. In the four years since we launched World Pool at Royal Ascot, the Hong Kong Jockey Club has forged – and enhanced – a host of World Pool partnerships around the world and we are delighted at the significant progress achieved so far.”
“It has been another hugely successful week for World Pool at Royal Ascot and we are thrilled with the level of turnover both on course as we welcomed back a full scale crowd and remotely. In my time at Ascot, the World Pool has been one of the most innovative initiatives we have been involved in and these new partnerships have proved hugely beneficial to racing at Ascot and the wider industry,” Guy Henderson, Chief Executive at Ascot Racecourse added.
The record turnover day at the Royal Ascot was coincidentally the same day that the track signed a five-year extension of its relationship with the race.