Alex Frost

Sometime in the next few days there will likely be footage of a convoy of vast wagons carrying Gordon Elliott's army of horses from Co Meath to Cheltenham. Ten minutes down the road from Elliott's stable, a single two-box will pull out of the drive at Rahinston to make that same journey. On board will be Colonel Mustard (Fr), an outsider for the Champion Hurdle but very much the star of Lorna Fowler's string of 15 jumpers.  Of all the Festival races, the Champion Hurdle has been hogging the headlines...

A five-year agreement aimed at strengthening and growing pool betting in the UK was signed by Ascot Racecourse and the Tote on Thursday. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2024, the agreement ensures all pool bets placed on racing from Ascot Racecourse will continue to support liquidity in the UK pool which has been operated by the UK Tote Group since October 2019. The "Bet with Ascot" brand is included under this umbrella of bets as long as the bets are placed on the Tote website, through bookmakers and third-party partners on...

World Pool turnover on Saturday's G1 British Champions S. Day at Ascot totalled HK$202.7 million (£21.4 million), bringing the figure for all races in 2023 commingled during the 19 World Pool days in the UK in and Ireland to HK$4.7 billion (£475 million). G1 King George S. Day at Ascot in July saw the biggest jump in turnover, rising from HK$253 million to a new record of HK$287 million, an increase of over 13%, while 2000 Guineas Day in May and Royal Ascot's first and third days in June also...

French racing pools are now available exclusively to British and Irish racing fans through a new agreement between the UK Tote Group and France's PMU. Beginning on Thursday, Sept. 28, this agreement is the only way British and Irish pool betting customers can access French pools. The Tote is commingling into French pools for all French races, including the G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on Sunday. Tote customers will be able to bet into over 7,000 pools and view live racing from 88 French racecourses each year, including...

We've a while to wait before any firm conclusions can be drawn about this year's crop of first-season stallions, though Darley's Blue Point (Ire) and Ballyhane Stud's Soldier's Call (GB) are pulling ever clearer in what has developed into something of a duel at the half-way stage of the Flat season. In the Coolmore camp, Calyx (GB) was the first to strike with a group winner when Persian Dreamer won Friday's G2 Duchess of Cambridge S.  As an aside, one wonders how much the clamour to run two-year-olds at Royal...

World Pool, the largest commingled horse racing pools created and powered by the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), will expand to 25 fixtures in 2023, with some of the new additions the Lightning S. Day in Australia (Feb. 18), The Saudi Cup (Feb. 25), and Irish Derby Day (July 2). Provisional World Pool events will be hosted on the following days in 2023: 28: Met Day - Kenilworth Racecourse, South Africa 18: Black Caviar Lightning Race Day - Flemington Racecourse, Australia 25: Saudi Cup - King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh,...

The Tote has launched an innovative scheme which aims to benefit British-based trainers though returns on betting profit generated by owners. The Racing Revenue Share Scheme awards 20% of the revenue share from the Tote's takeout for any bet placed by owners who have nominated a specific trainer. The scheme is based on turnover with no cap on the potential amount earned by the trainer, who must be signed up to the scheme. Alex Frost, CEO of UK Tote Group, said, "We're delighted to have launched the Racing Revenue Share...

In two frustrating and financially damaging racing seasons for Ascot, there has at least been a glimmer of light gleaned from its decision in 2019 to become involved with the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) and the UK Tote in launching the World Pool. In that debut year, £92 million was bet into the World Pool on racing at Royal Ascot. Amid an unthinkably torrid 2020 season, in which the Royal meeting was staged behind closed doors, that figure rose to £137 million. It improved again this year: four of...