Ben Cleminson sits down with the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Executive Director of Wagering Products Michael Fitzsimons and the CEO of the UK Tote Group Alex Frost ahead of the 2024 UK and Ireland World Pool season.
RAIN is lashing down and the skies are gloomy, sound familiar?
Well, this interview isn’t taking place in London, but almost 6000 miles away in Hong Kong ahead of FWD Champions Day, one of two major international horse racing fixtures in the territory. Oh yes, and it’s also nearly 30 degrees.
I am here to speak with the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Michael Fitzsimons, who started his career in trading at Cantor Fitzgerald in the early 2000s, and Alex Frost, the CEO of the UK Tote, who worked in the City for almost 20 years, initially at Kleinwort Benson and then as MD at Merrill Lynch.
A major factor in their respective roles is the continued growth and development of World Pool, which combines the finest racing from around the globe with the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s betting operation, which boasts the deepest and most liquid pari-mutuel pools in the world.
The concept was developed by HKJC CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges in 2019 with just the UK Tote and Ascot but has since grown with more fixtures than ever and up to 30 countries taking part.
“It’s become a really key initiative for the racing industry worldwide,” said Fitzsimons. “It’s been a win-win for everyone involved.
“Customers get a better product and pricing, operators have deeper, more liquid pools and the returns to the racing industry, especially at the grassroots level, have been vital to the ecosystem.”
Frost, who led a consortium of investors, the vast majority of whom own and breed racehorses, to purchase the Tote from Betfred in 2019, reflected on his career change.
“I was always going to leave the City aged 40,” he said. “I hadn’t really seen enough of my family.
“The idea was to have a quiet, few years but I was intrigued by the Tote and the funding model for racing.
“The target was always to engage with the other big totes around the world, it was never going to work as a purely domestic play.
“This is all about getting foreign markets to bet into our pools and ultimately support our racing, and vice versa,” said Frost.
World Pool has been a huge success globally and has been heralded as a saviour, particularly for the British and Irish racing industries.
“Huge pressure rests on it,” said Frost. “There’s not much that is going up in the world of racing at the moment.
“It’s concerning to see even Greece close their racing, then you’ve got Singapore and Macau. Wherever you look racing is hugely challenged. A lot rests on World Pool’s shoulders.”
The UK and Irish World Pool season kicks off with 2000 Guineas Day at Newmarket on Saturday and for the first time on Sunday, the 1000 Guineas will be run as a World Pool race.
Fitzsimons is particularly excited about the imminent launch of new technology solutions.
“We have made a deep investment in our technology over the past couple of years and we are happy to announce that we will soon be rolling out a new platform and wagering protocol with our partners,” said Fitzsimons.
“Advancement in technology is moving forward in all industries and it is vital that World Pool keeps pace, not only connecting the world but providing a localised customer experience with exciting new products.”
Frost agrees that a deep customer focus combined with the most modern technology is imperative to the future success of World Pool.
“We’ve been working for a long time with Hong Kong on an obsession with the consumer,” said Frost.
“I think people look at politics and other things in racing too much when the consumer is what is going to drive the success story of racing or not.
“We need to build quickly and the new World Pool technology is a big focus for all of us.”
In addition to new technologies, there have been new territories added to World Pool over the past 18 months and Fitzsimons sees this only growing in the future.
“We have had some exciting fixtures from countries including Australia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Latin America, as well as the UK and Ireland,” said Fitzsimons.
“We are increasingly looking at World Pool days that combine multiple meetings across the world, like starting in Australia, moving on to Europe or South Africa and then ending in South America.
“For us, this is what World Pool is all about – bringing the best racing from around the world with deep liquidity and choice for punters,” he said.
Frost agrees and both explained that as many of the Longines top 100 races as possible are the primary focus to expand World Pool further.
“I struggle to see how we don’t expand this more and more,” said Frost. “We’ve got to expand the product, but I’d encourage people to take a look at it now.
“It’s already super exciting about what it’s delivering to the sport. When you’ve got revenue streams of up to a million a day; York’s minimum prize at £100,000 per race; you can see the extent to which it has moved the market already.
“Lots has happened very quickly, but we’re in a fierce battle to grow World Pool more extensively. The technology is there, it’s now just about getting more people behind it,” concluded Frost.
With World Pool kicking off again in the UK on Saturday, it’s going to be fascinating to see how far it progresses over the next 12 months. The signs are hugely positive.