ONE of my main responsibilities in racing these days is that I oversee the European arm of OTI Racing, run by Terry Henderson, which is based in Australia where they create and run racing partnerships.

These are the lifeblood of ownership in Australian racing. OTI have over a hundred horses in training with 20-odd being here in Europe. Many of their clients are wealthy people who could afford to own horses in their own right but they get more fun and undoubtedly more bang for their buck by owning small shares in a large number of animals.

Effectively it is discrete ownership and they have control of their interests with excellent communication including numerous and regular videos of their horses in training.

In addition to having a reputation for integrity, OTI has had excellent success on the track.

This year they won the Derby in Sydney meaning they have now won all the Australian Derbies and the Melbourne Cup.

Above all, their clients have fun and in a normal year there would be a number who make a summer trip to Europe taking in a visit to Ascot, Longchamp or Deauville. We should not forget that owning racehorses is primarily a leisure activity and it is important for those of us involved on a professional basis to acknowledge that.

In Ireland OTI has horses with Joseph O’Brien, Jessie Harrington and Willie Mullins. Downdraft (Joseph) and True Self (Willie) have been hard at it on the international stage, both winning stakes races in Australia at the Melbourne Cup Carnival last year.

European owners have also become involved, much enjoying their trip down under. It’s a great way of owning part of, for relatively small money, a high-class horses who can compete at some of the world’s great race meetings.

There are already some successful racing partnerships in Europe and these will only increase. Once the hurricane of Covid-19 is blown out those left standing will all be feeling a little poorer so it will be a great way for the enthusiasts to remain involved in racehorse ownership.

Exciting Tote plans

I am also doing some work in France for the UK Tote Group, new owners of the Tote in Britain.

The buyout from Betfred was led by Alex Frost who has done an extraordinary job to pull everything together. By common consent the Tote had been underinvested in for decades, beginning with Woodrow Wyatt’s 20-year reign in charge from 1977 to 1997, when he regarded it and ran it as his private fiefdom.

Privatisation came in 2011 when it was sold to Betfred but this potential golden goose for racing was never properly galvanised.

Alex has put together a very strong team and progress already looks positive with a new look for the brand, new website and an increasing emphasis on international partnerships with other pool betting operators.

The creation of big global pools has to be the future and the potential to almost revolutionise the income stream for UK racing and now Irish racing too is enormous. All other leading racing nations are powered by strong Totes.

The seven-year alliance agreed between Ireland’s off-course Tote and the UK Tote will lead to a substantial increase in liquidity in Irish racing pools. All those aficionados of the old favourites like the placepot will have the advantage of meatier returns the day they land the big pot.

D-day is set for January 1st 2021 and, most importantly, the increase in volume will help sustain the Irish Tote. I think it is the most exciting development in racing’s finances for many years.

To use that annoying cliché, it looks like a win-win deal for the sport in Ireland.