The tote, whose profits go back into the sport, has a variety of bets on offer through totepool – totewin, tote place, tote exacta, tote trifecta, tote placepot and tote jackpot.
On-course pool turnover of £5 million is the target at this year’s John Smith’s Grand National meeting.
The three days at Aintree are a hugely important part of the tote’s annual figures and turnover at the John Smith’s-sponsored meeting just keeps on growing.
Racecourse PR Manager Damian Walker explained: ‘Big meetings such as the three days at Aintree are vital to us and it is great to see that business at Aintree continues to grow.
‘Our turnover last year was up by almost £80,000 a day, totaling £4.7 million over the three-day meeting. If we can get another £100,000 a day increase this year, we’ll smash through the £5- million barrier for the very first time.
‘We took £1.95 million through our on-course outlets on John Smith’s Grand National day alone and if we can squeeze out over another £50,000 increase this time around then we’ll go through the £2-million barrier for the first time.’
The task of maximising on-course turnover lies with Operations Manager Dennis Cooper and his huge team of staff. Cooper said: ‘A turnover of £5 million is a realistic target and that is definitely possible.”
‘We will have over 500 staff on each day of the meeting and this year we have introduced a new style mobile betting kiosk with 12 betting windows which our research has shown will be very popular with racegoers.
‘Once again, we will have more couriers than ever before with hand-held betting units. These allow us to have betting points for those busy hospitality areas where there might not be anywhere else to bet. They are essential.’
The totepool comes into its own at big meetings such as the three-day John Smith’s Grand National fixture. The massive size of the tote pools gives punters a chance to win staggering sums for just a tiny outlay.
Damian Walker explained the huge opportunities for punters:
‘Last season on Grand National day there was a massive £293,000 in the placepot pool and with the placepot pools growing since then we expect a £300,000 plus pool this time. A placed horse in the first six races has the potential for a massive dividend without having to select a single winner.’ The tote trifecta comes into its own in big-field races like the John Smith’s Grand National. Walker added: ‘Two years ago had you staked just a £1 tote trifecta and correctly predicted the order of 7/1 favourite Hedgehunter to beat runner-up Royal Auclair and third-placed Simply Gifted, then you would now be £44,338.60 richer. ‘But the ‘big one’ for punters is the tote jackpot and, if the bet rolls over into the Aintree meeting, we could be looking at a £1-million jackpot pool come John Smith’s Grand National day and that would surely help us through the £5-million target for the week.’
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