World Pool, the globally commingled horse racing pools created and powered by the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), will be in operation at both the Irish and German Derbies for the first time on July 2nd.
The Deutsches Derby marks the first time World Pool has operated in Germany. The launch will see what the club calls the country’s richest race offered to bettors in 28 countries two hours before World Pool also makes its Irish Derby debut at the Curragh on the same day.
The Irish Derby Day card will be World Pool’s first meeting at the Curragh and the third-ever Irish World Pool fixture, following the 2021 and 2022 Irish Champions Day meetings from Leopardstown.
— World Pool (@WorldPool) June 30, 2023
Both races are “historic contests for the classic generation,” notes World Pool, with the Deutsches Derby being first staged in 1869 and the Irish Derby having over 150 years of history. Through this new addition, World Pool will offer racing fans from around the globe “an exciting chance to get involved.”
World Pool will be in operation for only the Deutsches Derby from Hamburg, while all eight races on the Irish Derby Day card from the Curragh will be World Pool events.
There will be six World Pool bet types available on the Irish and German cards – Win, Place, Quinella, Quinella Place (Swinger), Forecast (Exacta) and Tierce (Trifecta) – while the Irish Derby card will also feature the Treble (pick the winner in three selected races) bet type.
𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑭𝑰𝑹𝑴𝑬𝑫: Exciting field of 9️⃣ declared for Sunday’s G1 Irish Derby.
ADELAIDE RIVER
AUGUSTE RODIN
COVENT GARDEN
PEKING OPERA
PROUD AND REGAL
SAN ANTONIO
SPREWELL
UP AND UNDER
WHITE BIRCH#WorldPool | 𝐁𝐞𝐭 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 | @curraghrace pic.twitter.com/o2zyMhCfwR— World Pool (@WorldPool) June 30, 2023
The World Pool Moment of the Day will be offered at the Curragh, with a prize of €4,000 ($4,367.76) awarded to the groom of the chosen winner, as well as being entered into the World Pool Moment of the Year to win a VIP trip to Hong Kong.
Sam Nati, Head of Commingling at the Hong Kong Jockey Club, said: “The various international derbies carry particular importance in Hong Kong across various stakeholder categories. These include racing fans, wagering customers and owners, so the German and Irish Derbies are an important addition to the World Pool schedule.”
— World Pool (@WorldPool) June 30, 2023
“The Curragh is the home of flat racing in Ireland and we are honored that the Dubai Duty-Free Irish Derby has been selected as a Tote World Pool meeting for the first time. We are greatly looking forward to Sunday’s card which is full of quality and competitive racing,” added Brian Kavanagh, Chief Executive Officer of The Curragh Racecourse.
For his part, Jason Morris, HRI Director of Racing and Strategic Projects, said: “Horse Racing Ireland is delighted to be welcoming a second World Pool Day to Ireland and is extremely grateful to the Hong Kong Jockey Club for its growing coverage of Irish racing, which will now showcase to an even wider international audience the feature Classic of the Irish Flat racing calendar.”
— World Pool (@WorldPool) June 30, 2023
“The Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby is the highlight of an extremely competitive card featuring four Black Type races and four Premier Handicaps. The financial benefits that will flow from being a World Pool event have allowed HRI and the Curragh racecourse to boost prize money significantly for the day with €1.97 million ($21,50,895) on offer, an overall increase of €425,000 ($462,442) on last year, and with every race worth at least €100,000 ($1,09,184).”
