Witness makes a good case for combined pools
Turnover could have topped $100m if Japan odds were available
The excitement of having three Hong Kong horses running in last Sunday's Group One Yasuda Kinen in Tokyo saw a 50 per cent increase in turnover on a typical simulcast event, from $14 to $21 million.
But Hong Kong Jockey Club officials were left to wonder out loud just what the result would have been if the Hong Kong bets had been combined with the huge Japan pools.
Silent Witness went off locally at a dividend of about $23, but how many serious punters would have stepped into take those niggardly odds knowing the 'real' price on the Japan tote was so much better? The difference in dividend was huge - $23 at home compared to $86 in Japan.
And Hong Kong punters could have thrown what they liked on Silent Witness on the Japan tote and had minimal impact, as the Yasuda Kinen held $1.543 billion across all pools in the host country.
Jockey Club executive director of racing, Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, believes Hong Kong punters would have bet at least 100 per cent more ($42 million), and perhaps even $60 million to $65 million, if legislation and the relevant international agreements had been in place to make commingling with the Japan pools possible.
One professional punter, interviewed last night, believed the director's estimates were on the conservative side.
'When Silent Witness was showing 12.1 in Japan overnight, and punters knew they were going to get such great value about a champion, I'm sure there would have been huge turnover from Hong Kong players,' he said.
'Silent Witness started at 8.6 in Tokyo. Even the Bullish Luck punters would have been backing Silent Witness at 8.6. As it was, I know a significant number of punters who flew from Hong Kong and as far away as Melbourne to be in Tokyo, just to back Silent Witness in the host market.'
The punter concluded: 'I think a commingled pool on that particular race, given the popularity of Silent Witness, might have held close to $100 million.'
The commingling of pools with the host country for international races was one of the discussion points at the recent Asian Racing Conference in Seoul, and suggested by Engelbrecht-Bresges as a worthwhile business target for the events like the World Racing Championships, Global Sprint Challenge and Asian Mile Challenge.
Engelbrecht-Bresges said there would be different issues for different countries to sort out to make the dream a reality.
'The first thing we would have to do is work out certain principles on how this would be done,' he said. 'It could work straight away in France, for example, but it would be difficult in England where most of the betting is done through bookmakers and the tote is relatively weak.
'In Australia, there would be a wagering taxation issue to be addressed and in Hong Kong, it would require an amendment to the Gambling Ordinance.
'But the legislative amendment for soccer betting showed it could be done, because the club's soccer traders can now legally bet outside Hong Kong for hedging purposes [to balance the Jockey Club's exposure on certain outcomes] where previously that would have been illegal.'
Meanwhile, Coolmore Stud yesterday announced the retirement to stud of brilliant Danehill sprinter Fastnet Rock, conqueror of Hong Kong's Cape of Good Hope in the Group One Lightning Stakes at Flemington in February.
Fastnet Rock had travelled from his home in Newcastle, Australia, to England to be prepared for the major summer sprints but was struck down with travel sickness.
