TONY CALVIN: Five questions for the Tote

I wouldn’t profess to read or listen to much horse racing content these days – I don’t tune into other podcasts bar the Nick Luck Daily on occasions to hear their take on big betting stories, and the odd Barstewards one when I’ve been told I should be suing them… – so I am hardly best placed to comment on others.

So they may well be raising important betting issues, which was one of our raison d’etres in setting up the AKBets The Racing Room podcast.

The area seemed ripe for a shake-up.

The silence elsewhere can seemingly be deafening on occasions but all four of us have agreed to confront the big stories of the week, wherever they lie, with an honest take.

Obviously, personal and professional sensibilities and relationships mean that one of us has to occasionally abstain from commenting on certain topics – if the very-industrious work machine that is Lucky recused himself every time he had a vested interest, his would be a very short show on occasions! – but we have more than enough slack to take on any subject.

One thing I am not is biased, as I will upset anyone….

One of the main subjects on the podcast in recent weeks has been the Tote and the Worldpool, and the easy ride it arguably gets in the racing media. Perhaps its unusual business model means that it simply goes under the radar in comparison to traditional operators.

Whatever the reason, the Tote does go largely unquestioned, it appears to me.

I’d like to think we have been fair and balanced in asking pertinent questions but not everyone is familiar with the Tote or pool betting and Jon Hawkins said the following on X, which prompted me to write this piece.

He wrote: “Tony, I am finding the new pod interesting but am struggling to grapple with the Tote story. Sorry if I’m missing something obvious but could you explain it in Lehman’s terms please?”

Ignoring the fact that the Lehman (sic) reference probably means he has been a workshy golfer since the 80s, he probably made a very good point.

The subject needs some bald clarity. No jokes, please.

So, to summarise, these are the questions we’d like the Tote to answer. And for complete clarity, asking these questions doesn’t mean I think there are nefarious answers.

I’ll preface them by readily admitting the following, and gladly so.

The Tote and Worldpool are clearly bringing vital new funds into a struggling sport.

I don’t know the actual amounts, or indeed where they go (I assume directly to the racecourses that host Worldpool days, though more on that shortly) but their website spells out their over-arching importance to UK horseracing.

And it is considerable, make no mistake.

Its’ headline figures and commitments read: “(A) £50+ million agreement with British racecourses and paying the Horseracing Betting Levy.

“As well as paying the Horserace Betting Levy, the Tote has an agreement in place with British racecourses that will see the Tote contribute a minimum of £50 million to the sport over 7 years.

“Every year we make a wide number of charitable commitments, including contributing a share of our net gaming revenues to horseracing charities. We also sponsor at several racecourses in Great Britain and Ireland.

“The Tote supports the Racehorse Owners Association Sponsorship Scheme, with over 1,800 ROA members having horses in the scheme and carrying the Tote logo on their silks. This is a huge benefit to ROA members, enabling them to recover VAT on racing related expenditure, benefitting British racing to the tune of over £7.5 million a year.”

And, on the subject of their Tote SP guarantee, the website reads that “this ensures the Tote Win price will always match the industry Starting Price – or exceed it if the pool price is bigger – for all UK and Irish racing. This means the Tote is always the best price at the off on every runner in every UK and Irish race, and Tote customers also benefit from the bigger prices the pool can produce without ever losing out.”

So I am not for one moment underplaying what the Tote bring to the UK in those headline financial commitments.

However,, just because it is much welcomed, it does not mean it should be blindly applauded when we don’t know exactly what and why we are clapping.

In the last two weeks, a lot of people have been in touch – privately, admittedly – with information and opinions and questions they wanted asking.

And answering.

I know for a fact that some of these people are very clued-up and knowledgeable in this area – I will admit this is more of an industry subject than of major concern to most punters, with the awful news that broadcaster Chris Barnett passed away on Monday bringing this matter into a further context of importance – so I am going to pose the following five questions.

In no particular order.

I appreciate some may be commercially sensitive – perhaps all of them, which would be understandable – but this is an information wish-list and the questions are worth asking.

Transparency will be the Tote’s friend here if it wants to attract more punters.

Hopefully, this may help, Jon. I have limited it to five questions, but there could have been more.

So here goes:

1. How much did Worldpool pay to UK racing in 2023? And the latest figures in 2024, if available? For example, how much can York racecourse expect from last week’s three Worldpool days?

2. How are the funds generated by Worldpool split? I have heard one suggestion, and it is the following. Would it be correct?

“The deal is that “British racing” gets 3% of all World Pool turnover. Which is an amazing offer given that HK provide 95%+ of the money in the pool yet UK racing clips 3% of it. The 3% split is somehow between RMG, the racecourse and UK Tote.”

3. I appreciate the raw, actual dividends can be found on the Tote website but why do the more visible ITV Racing (the TV version) and the Racing Post, the Sporting Life, ATR and RTV websites/channels, give the Tote Guarantee price as their “official” returns? This guarantee is not available to all. And why not carry the actual dividends to give viewers and readers the full picture, including international customers? The Tote SP guarantee will be available to most UK punters, but the true dividend can be helpful for bettors in the future, as the Betfair Starting price can be. For example, knowing that some horses, and jockeys, are consistently over-bet is of obvious importance.

4. Why, and how, did Racing TV’s live Tote prices on Worldpool days last week carry what would appear to be misleading information? The correct live Tote show was given to horses trading above the UK fixed-odds price but those that weren’t were given as the Tote guarantee dividend (clearly not a live price). For example, Heavens Gate was trading at 2.35 on the Tote, yet was displayed on RTV at 3.0 (ie the filly was trading at 2/1 in the UK fixed-odds betting). This was not an isolated incident. I appreciate any Tote price has an inevitable time lag but mixing and matching “live” “and “guaranteed” price information would appear to be selective and questionable.

5. The issue of the Tote seeding and betting into their own pools in UK markets is potentially a major one. Now, the Tote have always been fully upfront about this (they do not do this on Worldpool markets, I understand) but they have always stated on their website that their Pool Guarantee Service “makes a loss on its seeding across all products”. There have been suggestions that the Tote’s activity in their own markets in the UK has increased significantly in recent years and is now a profit-making exercise. Can you comment on this, and provide any details as to your timing and involvement into UK pools?

I think these are reasonable questions which will help those that the Tote want to do business with to fully understand the product they’re being invited to buy into.