TVG/HKJC to Offer Commingled Pools

The Television Games Network will begin offering commingled pools and live racing coverage from Hong Kong’s Happy Valley and Sha Tin racecourses this weekend after entering a multi-year agreement with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the company announced in a statement Monday. 
“We know that horse racing customers like large pools with large quality fields of horses to watch and wager on, and we are thrilled to deliver access to some of the best product available anywhere in the world to meet those desires,” TVG’s John Hindman said in the statement. “With a television network in over 36 million households and our position as the largest advance deposit wagering provider in the U.S., TVG is uniquely situated to introduce quality international horse races to viewing audiences and wagering customers here. Simply put, our U.S. customers will have the wagering experience that has traditionally been available to them only two to three times a year in terms of pool sizes, now available to them every Hong Kong race day–more than 83 times a year.” 
The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s pools currently average over $17 million per race and the average field size is 12.6 runners. 
“There has been growing interest in the States in Hong Kong’s racing model lately and many commentators there are suggesting that the United States should be striving to emulate it,” Bill Nader, executive director of racing at the HKJC, told South China Morning Post. “There are things that we have that racing there just does not–big competitive fields and high turnover, for example–and we have a high standard of integrity to go with it. They are all things that educated fans look for.” 
TVG’s initial wager offerings will include win, place, quinella and tierce betting. Place betting in Hong Kong is equivalent to show betting in the U.S. and tierce betting is Hong Kong’s version of the trifecta. 
TVG is partnering with Sportech Racing and Digital to integrate technologies allowing the commingled odds capabilities. Past performance information on individual horses, as well as official programs, video replays, veterinary history and workout records are available free of charge at www.hkjc.com in both English and Chinese. 
Nader told the China Post that providing information that would be easily digested by an American audience was critical in the venture’s success. 
“We have formed a link between Equibase, the official past performance database provider for North American racing, and our own database so that performance histories can be distributed in a format that will be familiar to horse players there,” he explained. 
HKJC stages race fixtures from early September to early July, with fixtures traditionally on Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons. For bettors in the U.S., first post on Wednesdays would generally be 7:15 a.m. ET and 1 a.m. ET for Sunday cards.