Sandown's Coral-Eclipse among additions to World Pool roster after Guineas weekend turnover passes £30 million

Sandown's Coral-Eclipse Stakes has been reintroduced to the World Pool roster alongside the addition of Group or Grade 1 contests from four other countries.

The 2021 Eclipse won by St Mark's Basilica was a World Pool race but it has been absent since. Its return as a World Pool race on Saturday, July 6 will be swiftly followed by the debut of the Durban July at Greyville, South Africa the same day. Hamburg's Deutsches Derby card also features the following day.

The World Pool will also be active on Irish 1,000 Guineas day at the Curragh later this month (May 26) for the first time, while the full Irish Derby card is a confirmed raceday for a second year.

Two racedays at Eagle Farm in Australia – Queensland Derby Day on June 1 and Stradbroke Handicap Day on June 15 – have been added to the World Pool roster, as have South Africa's Gold Challenge at Greyville on June 8 and Munich's Grosser Preis Bayerisches Zuchtrennen Day on July 28.

Michael Fitzsimons, executive director of wagering products at the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), said: "It was great to kick start World Pool's season in the UK with the first two British Classics of the season, and we're delighted to announce the reintroduction of the historic Eclipse Stakes from Sandown to our fixture list for this year.

"This year World Pool's global offering of races is stronger than ever and continues to grow with new fixtures from Ireland, Australia, South Africa and Germany added in the coming months, showing World Pool's commitment to delivering the world's best racing to customers across the globe."

Powered by the HJKC since its launch in 2019, the World Pool commingles tote operations around the world to allow punters to bet into the same pool and has been a key area of growth for British and Irish racing.

Britain's first World Pool event of the year took place last weekend when all nine races on 2,000 Guineas day at Newmarket, plus Sunday's 1,000 Guineas, were commingled in the global pool, with turnover for the ten contests of approximately £31 million.

Nevin Truesdale, chief executive of the Jockey Club, said: "We were absolutely delighted with the turnover performance of the World Pool races at Newmarket's Rowley Mile on Guineas weekend, which shows, once again, the importance of World Pool and its value to customers of British racing, both domestically and further afield."

Newbury's Lockinge Stakes is the next World Pool raceday on Saturday, May 18, with Epsom's Derby card and the entirety of Royal Ascot are British fixtures included next month.

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