Horse racing – Page 5

May 4, 2023

New York greenlights $455m racing Belmont development

On 2 May, New York State lawmakers approved the FY2024 budget, which included funding for a $455m (£362.0m/€412.2m) loan to renovate and upgrade the Belmont Park race track.

Non-for-profit racetrack operator the New York Racing Association (NYRA) is charged with developing the project to build the new thoroughbred racing facility at Belmont Park.

The NYRA said that the “significant” construction development would have no cost to tax payers, due to being funded through loans that the operator is obliged to pay back to the state government.

Belmont Park’s existing grandstand and clubhouse are to be replaced with a new building, designed to “reflect the evolution” of racing and wagering since the site was last redeveloped in 1968.

In keeping with the declining popularity of racing in New York, the new construction is to be smaller, with the current 1.25 million square foot facility set to be replaced with a 275,000 square foot structure.

According to the NYRA, the new building is to..

May 3, 2023

RMG to pay British racecourses £117.6m in rights proceeds

Racecourse Media Group (RMG) has announced it will pay £117.6m (€133.3m/$147.0m) to British racecourses from the sale of their media and data rights in 2022.

Payments were derived from a range of RMG businesses including via betting shops, online bookmaker streams, the Racing TV pay TV channel, international betting, non-betting distribution, the mainstream TV agreement with ITV and data sales.

The payment total represents a 6.9% increase from £110.0m paid out in the previous year.

“The RMG model has once again proved to be resilient and reliable – in the face of significant challenges – producing record results, and performing ahead of expectations,” RMG chairman Roger Lewis said.

“The results are a testimony and tribute to the vision and dedication of those racecourses who came together and stuck together to create, grow and develop the RMG business.”

Lewis will step down from the RMG board this year and will be replaced by former Flutter UK and Ireland chief executive Conor Gra..

April 26, 2023

UK Tote Group brings in new senior leadership

UK and Irish pool operator UK Tote Group has hired two new CCOs to support its growth strategy and expand its international and domestic networks.

Jon Knapman joins Tote Group as chief commercial officer of the group’s international B2B business. With its recent expansion into US, South African and Hong Kong markets, the international business has seen substantial growth.

Dave Hammond becomes the chief commercial officer (UK) of the operator’s domestic operation. Hammond brings 25 years of experience in the industry from numerous senior operational roles in companies such as Inspired Gaming, Paddy Power, Betfair and DraftKings.

“As we continue to execute our growth strategy for the business and, following three years of significant expansion within international markets with many more opportunities on the horizon, we now have two extremely strong leaders focussed on driving the commercial performance of our international and UK businesses,” UK Tote Group chief executive Alex Fros..

April 24, 2023

Waterhouse VC: Are you feeling lucky?

In his latest column for iGB, Tom Waterhouse of Waterhouse VC discusses the place of syndicate betting and artificial intelligence in the industry.

Business partners David Walsh and Zeljko Ranogajec are professional bettors, whose syndicate bets about $10bn per annum across horse racing, sports betting and lotteries. Walsh spent $75m to re-open Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in 2011.

In our December newsletter, we discussed the niche but highly lucrative field of professional betting. Betting successfully is incredibly challenging, with other market participants always trying to take your edge. This dynamic means that betting strategies must be adjusted all the time.

The Pharos wing at Australia’s MONA museum

Rebating their competition away

The large betting syndicates receive generous rebates from pari-mutuel or tote betting for providing liquidity. This gives them a significant edge, which varies depending on pool or jurisdiction, over other participants.

To receive ..

April 13, 2023

BGC welcomes MP support for Grand National charity bet initiative

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) said more than 40 MPs will support this year’s edition of its Grand National charity bet initiative.

MPs from a number of parties will visit a local betting shop to place a BGC Charity Bet on the British showpiece racing event, which takes place on 15 April at Aintree Racecourse as part of the Grand National festival.

Each participating MP will be given £50 to bet on a horse, with all the winnings going to a charity of their choice. Should their bet not win, BGC members will make a £250 donation to the MP’s nominated charity.

MPs can visit a Paddy Power, William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral, Betfred or local independent betting shop in their constituency to place the charity bet ahead of the race this weekend.

Levelling Up minister Dehenna Davison, shadow DCMS minister Alex Davies-Jones, minister for Enterprise Kevin Hollinrake and COP26 president Alok Sharma are among the MPs that will take part in the initiative this year.

Shadow defence secretary..

April 11, 2023

Betfred to sponsor the Oaks and the Derby at Epsom Downs

In a three-year deal, Betfred has announced it is to be the new sponsor of the Oaks and the Derby at Epsom Downs.

The operator will also sponsor two other races over the two days of the Derby in June, however these are yet to be determined. Betfred notes that this is the first of a series of announcements regarding the partnership to be released in the forthcoming weeks.

Betfred has previously been involved in British racing as the sponsor of a number of racing events, including the Cheltenham Gold Cup from 2012 to 2015, as well as the Group One Sprint Cup at Haydock Park.

Betfred founder Fred Done said he was “immensely proud” to be sponsoring the races.

Done said that “for me, the Derby remains the greatest flat race in the world”.

“When you look at some of the horses and characters that have won this great race, Sea-Bird, Mill Reef, Nijinsky, Sir Gordon Richards, Lester Piggott and Frankie Dettori, it has an amazing history, and I am delighted to become a part of it for at l..

March 31, 2023

Kentucky sports betting bill heads to governor’s desk

House Bill 551 – which would authorise sports wagering in the Bluegrass State – is heading to Governor Andy Beshear’s desk after clearing the Senate just hours before the deadline.

Beshear, a Democrat, has stated his intention to sign the bill, meaning that the outlook looks optimistic for legalised sports betting in Kentucky.

Lawmakers approved the legislation 26-12, with a 23-vote threshold for passage. The two-thirds majority requirement is a result of state rules regarding revenue generating laws being passed in a session not devoted to the budget.

There is a long tradition of horse racing in Kentucky

“After years of urging lawmakers to legalise sports betting, we finally did it! Today’s result shows that hard work pays off,” said Beshear on Twitter. “Kentuckians will soon be able to place their bets here and, for the first time, we are going to keep those dollars to support our roads and bridges, schools and communities.”

Read the full story on iGB North America

March 29, 2023

DraftKings launches DK Horse app in 12 states

DraftKings has announced that its horseracing product, DK Horse, has officially launched in 12 states – and is set to launch in several more before the Kentucky Derby begins on 6 May.

Players in Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Oregon, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming will now be able to access the DK Horse app.

The app allows players to partake in pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing. Wagers can be placed on a number of renowned horse races, including Churchill Downs products such as Oaks and Derby.

Read the full story on iGB North America

March 24, 2023

ARC acquires Arabian Racing Organisation, signs Ascot rights deal

Arena Racing Company (ARC) has completed its acquisition of the Arabian Racing Organisation (ARO) and signed a four-year rights agreement with At The Races (ATR) and Ascot racecourse.

ARO is the only Arabian Racing Authority in Britain, and operates with the support of the British Horseracing Authority.

As part of the acquisition, ARO CEO Genny Haynes, racing operations manager Willie McFarland and ARO official photographer, media and PR Debbie Burt, will remain in charge of delivering the published 2023 fixture list. The fixtures will cover a programme of Arabian races that will take place on British racecourses.

“We are delighted to confirm this deal with ARC, who have been fantastic supporters of ARO for a number of years, with the majority of our races run on ARC racecourses,” said Haynes. “ARO is now in a position to develop new commercial revenue streams, with the aim of developing the sport’s profile within the UK.

“The future of our Arabian Group races is now secure, and ou..

March 16, 2023

Norway announces new distribution of Norsk Rikstoto profits

The Norwegian Ministry of Food and Agriculture has established new regulations, formalising the revenue share received by the different national equestrian organisations from Norsk Rikstoto.

Under the new rules, the profits distributed to these various bodies will be formalised, with each organisation receiving a set percentage of the proceeds. This differs from the repealed regulations in which the ministry had far more discretion over where the profits were distributed.

Gambling on horse racing in Norway is supervised by the state-owned monopoly of Norsk Rikstoto, which collects all legal pari-mutuel bets on the vertical. The profits from this company are then shared among a variety of Norwegian equestrian organisations in order to support the sport.

Distribution of profits

The new regulations outline that the Norwegian Trotting Association, the national harness racing association, is to receive 82% of the profits. The ministry says that the grant will be used to support the deve..

March 15, 2023

ITV extends free-to-air broadcast deal for British horse racing

British commercial broadcaster ITV has extended a deal to continue showing free-to-air coverage of UK horse racing until the end of 2026.

The three-year deal covers major events such as the Grand National, Royal Ascot, the Derby and the Cheltenham Festival, the 2023 edition of which is taking place this week and will be broadcast on ITV.

ITV began its free-to-air coverage of British racing in 2017, with races shown across both its ITV1 primary channel, ITV4 and ITVx.

“This deal will take us to a decade of racing on ITV and we’re delighted to be able to continue to bring to viewers well over 100 days of live coverage of this wonderful sport, including some of the most enjoyable, storied and thrilling events of each year,” ITV’s director of sport Niall Sloane said.

“We look forward to continuing to work with Racecourse Media Group and our other partners within racing to bring audiences the very best racing has to offer in the coming years.”

Racecourse Media Group chief executive, M..

March 14, 2023

Gambling gears up for Cheltenham amid rising concerns over affordability

Ahead of the Cheltenham Festival, industry experts and data reveal consumer spend is set to spike, although affordability checks may impact one of the most anticipated events in horse racing.

Cheltenham begins today (14 March) and ends on Friday 17 March and, while betting volumes are set to rise, the festival will play out amid rising concerns about affordability checks on consumers.

A study conducted by YouGov – which was commissioned by the affiliate Online Betting Guide (OLBG) – surveyed a total of 1,007 gamblers in the UK between 23 February and 2 March.

It found that 11% of punters are gearing up to gambling more on Cheltenham this year than they did last year, compared to 10% who said they were planning to gamble less than they did at Cheltenham 2022.

A total of 23% said they were planning on gambling around the same amount on the event year-on-year.

In addition, 6% of those surveyed said they did not bet on Cheltenham last year but planned to do so this year, while 50% sai..

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Tag: Horse racing