HKJC and Ascot renew World Pool partnership

The Hong Kong Jockey Club and Ascot Racecourse have renewed their partnership for five years.

Hong Kong.- The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) and Ascot Racecourse have announced the renewal of their World Pool partnership. The five-year agreement, signed during Royal Ascot, will run until 2028.

The partnership includes the commingling of bets into the World Pool, the provision of an integrity feed and the transmission of information by the HKJC at its racecourses and betting outlets in Hong Kong. The HKJC will be authorised to re-transmit this information to television and radio broadcasters and mobile phone operators.

Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, chief executive officer of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, said: “World Pool offers the best international racing for customers across the globe. The five-year renewal of the agreement with Ascot Racecourse demonstrates the Club’s strong commitment to our World Pool partnership and underlines an unwavering belief in the benefits of World Pool for horseracing internationally.

“In the four years since we launched World Pool at Royal Ascot, the 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.

“The Club looks forward to working closely with Ascot in the future with a mutual goal of delivering benefits to horseracing globally, enabling our partners to make significant investments in horseracing, while also delivering world-class entertainment for our customers, who are able to enjoy unmatched liquidity and value from commingling partners in 25 countries and regions.”

The World Pool Programmes, operated by the HKJC, include the five-day Royal Ascot meeting, as well as the King George Stakes Day and QIPCO British Champions Day meetings at Ascot Racecourse.

Alastair Warwick, chief executive of Ascot Racecourse, stated: “Our relationship with the Hong Kong Jockey Club is an amazing partnership and shows how global the sport is becoming. I couldn’t be happier with the support that Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges and the team at the Hong Kong Jockey Club have provided.

“This is our fifth year of doing World Pool – the time has flown by. As one of the key instigators, it really doesn’t feel like it was five years ago that we were doing our first World Pool.”

Hong Kong’s government has confirmed that the Legislative Council passed a bill mandating the HKJC to pay an extra HK$12bn in taxes on its football betting earnings over the next five years. The move aims to bolster the government’s financial resources, despite initial objections raised by the club. 

The tax measure was proposed by the New People’s Party (NPP) in January. The HKJC had opposed it, arguing that its horse-racing duty rates already ranked among the highest globally, ranging from 72 to 75 per cent. It warned the proposal could deeply damage its business model and Hong Kong’s global reputation as a racing jurisdiction.

However, Regina Ip of the New People’s Party downplayed the HK$2.4bn tax in comparison to the club’s investment returns. Tommy Cheung Yu-yan, chairman of the Liberal Party, has suggested extending the betting duty to other sports like basketball.