HK Jockey Club joins new global association

The HK Jockey Club is one of the gounding members of the new World Tote Association.

Hong Kong.- The Hong Kong Jockey Club has joined as one of the 20 founding members of the World Tote Association (WoTA), which aims to raise global standards in horse betting.

The new body includes members from all continents, including members from the European Pari Mutuel Association and the Asian African Tote Association. In a press release, WoTa members said that together they represent a turnover of €20 billion.

Their objectives include the promotion of the horse racing industry, with an agreement to destine a percentage of revenue towards supporting the horseracing sector. The body also aims to share best practice on the optimisation of technology to create engaging customer experience.

Paul Cross, general manager for international at Tabcorp and Richard Cheung, executive director for customer and international business development at the Hong Kong Jockey Club, will co-chair WoTA for the first two years. The newly elected Board will present its priorities on July 15.

Richard Cheung said: “WoTA is an association to promote interest for tote business and push prosperity.”

Paul Cross added: “We have created a body to represent tote operators globally and show people that the association is not created to talk a lot but to do a lot.”

The Hong Kong Jockey Club recently launched an initiative to combat illegal bookmakers.