TOTE Ireland, which has been synonymous with the Galway Plate for the best part of a decade, will once again have a strong presence next week. Indeed, the company, which has greatly expanded its sponsorship of Irish racing over the past 12 months, views Ballybrit as its flagship meeting of the entire year. In terms of size and scale, planning for the week-long festival begins almost as soon as the curtain comes down on the previous year.

“We will have somewhere in the region of 220 staff at the racecourse throughout the week,” says Ross Kierans, general manager of Tote Ireland. “After adding in back office, support and promotional staff, we will have close on 300 people supporting the festival.”

The company has sponsored the feature race, the Galway Plate, since 2011, something of which Kierans feels particularly proud. “The Plate itself is one of the highlights of the racing calendar and it affords us the opportunity to connect with Irish racegoers.”

Having a stronger on course presence and attracting new fans to the sport is something that Kierans is keen to achieve: “In my previous role in finance, I was very much office based and immediately upon being appointed General Manager I sought to explore how we could work more with the racecourses.”

Along with his colleagues, the new general manager made a conscious decision to bring Tote Ireland to a wider audience. Across all platforms, be it web, mobile or print media, the brand has held a much more prominent position of late.

A new initiative, the Tote VW Camper Van, which Kierans describes as “a labour of love”, has caught racegoers’ attention over the last few weeks. Since its launch on the Thursday of Irish Derby weekend, the bus, christened “Vinnie”, has made appearances at Bellewstown, Limerick and Killarney. It has already arrived at Galway safe and well, where it will remain for the duration of race week. Although its primary function is as a mobile sales unit, “Vinnie” affords Tote Ireland the opportunity to reach out to a new audience.

All roads lead to Galway

In the run up to Galway, the Tote’s National Hunt ambassador, Paddy Flood, has appeared in a series of promotional videos.

“Paddy [Flood] was in attendance at Limerick on Galway Plate Trial Day, visited Liam Cusack’s stable in Co Laois and took last year’s winning [Plate] jockey Mark Enright for a spin and a chat about the race,” said Kierans.

Referring to the Galway Plate Trials at Limerick and Kilbeggan [sponsored by Galway Races], Kierans felt it was novel to have one racecourse sponsor a race at another venue – “great credit is due to Michael Moloney and his team at Galway for having such initiative and in turn allowing other tracks to share in what is such an iconic race.”

This year has seen Tote Ireland increase the number of races it sponsors from about 17 in a typical year to around 70. For the first time, all four provinces will feel the benefit, with tracks from Downpatrick to Listowel and Ballinrobe to Sligo coming under the umbrella. However, the larger meetings will always attract the most attention, so in that respect Tote Ireland has stepped up to sponsor four of the biggest premier handicaps at the Curragh, namely the Rockingham, Scurry, Cambridgeshire, and Cesarewitch.

Having held an on course presence in Ireland for almost 90 years, the company feels that it is its opportunity to connect with the public, while also giving something back to Irish racing. Kierans added that Tote Ireland was keen to support its nearest neighbours, the Curragh, saying: “2019 is a big year for the racecourse following its redevelopment and we wanted to be part of that next stage of their journey.”

At the same time, he added that it was exciting to have the opportunity to work with tracks the length and breadth of the country.

“Many of the provincial tracks are the heartbeat of their local community and we welcome the opportunity to be able to connect with those regional audiences.”

Clarcam and Mark Enright won last years Tote.com Galway Plate \ Healy Racing

Helping out syndicates

Tote Ireland recently assumed sponsorship of a new HRI Ownership-backed series which is aimed at syndicates. The races, which are only open to horses owned by syndicates, have proved extremely popular to date. The first race, which was run at Cork, attracted a large field and similar numbers are expected for the remaining races.

Kierans has been thrilled with the feedback received to date, remarking: “Every owner deserves to get their day in the sun and this series proves such an opportunity. Both trainers and owners have embraced the series and we are very positive about its success.”

From chatting to Kierans it becomes clear that Tote Ireland wants to become a stronger presence at Irish racetracks, one that punters want to bet with and owners and trainers acknowledge as valuable supporters of the industry.

Next week at Galway, Tote Ireland plans to offer single leg guarantees across Trifectas and Superfectas as well as multi-leg guarantees on Jackpot, Placepot and Pick 6 pools.