International pool betting returns more than £75 million to UK and Irish tracks

Racing operators in Britain and Ireland received another substantial distribution from international pool betting in 2026, taking the total returned to their racecourses above £75 million since 2019. The previous cumulative figure was £65 million after the 2025 campaign.\n\nMore events and races produced a much larger wagering base. The Hong Kong Jockey Club calculated turnover of 7.66 billion Hong Kong dollars on participating British and Irish meetings, 30% more than a year earlier.\n\nThere were 34 World Pool days and 222 included races in 2026. G3 Newswire compared that schedule with 25 meetings and 161 races during 2025, showing that programme expansion accompanied the turnover gain.\n\nRoyal Ascot produced 528 million Hong Kong dollars of international turnover across 35 races, its first result above the 500 million threshold. Racing Post reported that Irish Derby Day also set a meeting record at 53.7 million Hong Kong dollars.\n\nThe system merges wagers placed in several countries into pools operated by the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Participating tracks share in the resulting revenue, while bettors gain access to deeper liquidity than an individual domestic pool can usually provide.