Spring racing remains unchallenged as the primary time for Australians to bet on racing, with data compiled by The Straight revealing that eight of the top 10 races are staged in a three-week window in late October/early November.
The top six most bet-on races in Australia in 2024, and eight of the top 10, were held in 17 days from the Caulfield Cup/Everest meetings until the Melbourne Cup.
During the wagering boom days of early this decade, state-based administrators and clubs were in the habit of regularly publishing their turnover numbers soon after a feature raceday.
But, except for the odd end-of-carnival press release, that flow of information has dried up and even the annual figures usually published by Racing Australia in its Fact Book were not included in its most recent edition.
When you consider the importance of wagering to the future funding of racing, it is quite staggering that there is not more transparency, or publicly available benchmarking of race performance on turnover.
For what it’s worth, Entain, which runs TAB NZ, publishes its highest turnover races monthly.
In the absence of comprehensive national data, The Straight surveyed major wagering service providers (WSPs), asking them what their top 10 most bet-on races in Australia were for the year.
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