Prescribed pari-mutuel – Fancy a mandatory bet with your racehorse share?
A race club in Malaysia has taken the extraordinary step of effectively forcing owners to back their horse every time they run in a bid to combat declining pari-mutuel betting turnover on its meetings.
Perak Turf Club, soon-to-be just one of just two race clubs operating in the Asian country, has written to Malayan Racing Association-licensed trainers informing them that an extra 1000 ringgit (A$364) would be payable per horse when nominating for a race at the Ipoh-based racecourse.
With the vast majority of betting on Malaysian racing taking place on illegal online betting sites such as Citibet, which undermine the totaliser pools in that country as well as other places such as Singapore, management of Perak Turf Club has taken the unconventional action in an attempt to stem the leakage of turnover away from the tote.
The additional contribution by the owners of RM1000, on top of the approximate RM324 (A$118) fee to enter a horse for a Perak race, will be bet by the club through the local totaliser on behalf of the owners on their horse on an each-way basis.
The RM500 win and place betting tickets will be held by the trainer and any winnings from the bets are to be collected and distributed to the owners.
The Perak Turf Club’s general manager and secretary Lai Hah Wan wrote that the initiative had been enacted to help ensure that horse racing continued to be viable in Ipoh after becoming increasingly frustrated by punters, particularly owners, abandoning legal betting options.
“Owners’ betting support for PRTC’s tote has been woefully lacking or negligible,” he said.
“It is introduced to provide earnest support by the owner of PRTC’s tote. Owners’ support of PRTC’s tote is crucial and translates into a mutually beneficial relationship for horse owners and PRTC.”
The policy will be in place for Perak’s next race meeting, which is scheduled for Saturday, May 24.
The Asian Racing Federation’s Council of Anti-Illegal Betting and Related Financial Crime last year estimated that Citibet accounts for US$50 billion in illegal betting on racing globally each year.
ARF’s head of research James Porteous wrote in a May 2024 piece titled Franchise Wars – How Citibet and Asia’s Other Biggest Bookmakers have ‘McDonaldised’ Illegal Betting that unregulated markets posed a significant integrity risk to horse racing around the world.
“And though these threats are not new, in 2024 they are greater than ever, because Citibet has massively expanded its target market through this plug-in business-to-business model,” Porteous wrote.
“Illegal betting on horse racing from every jurisdiction in the world, complete with pirated live broadcasts, in-running betting, better prices than legal tote operators and other product enhancements, has now been ‘franchised’ to a vastly wider audience.
“And Citibet is not alone – the biggest betting operators in the world have also adopted this model, thus massively amplifying both their own turnover and the exposure of individuals to illegal betting.”
Bren O’Brien
Exchanges such as Citibet, which emerged in Asia more than 20 years ago, use parimutuel odds on which punters bet against each other, often with the layer (or the offerer of the “eat” tickets, as it is referred to) providing a premium on top of the tote price to attract a willing backer.
Citibet takes a commission on the bets, not dissimilar to the way legal betting exchange Betfair does.
These exchanges operate on Australian thoroughbred, greyhound and harness racing, using SuperTAB and NSW TAB odds, with the volume of betting understood to often be many times that of what the Tabcorp-operated parimutuel pools are holding.
That is believed to be particularly so on lower profile Australian race meetings in all three codes.
The action taken by Perak Turf Club comes as the Penang Turf Club prepares to hold its last race meeting on May 31, bringing an end to racing in the coastal city after 160 years.
Tim Rowe
Members voted last month to press ahead with plans to sell the 81-hectare parcel of land to developers. Valuations suggest the site is worth in the vicinity of two and three billion ringgit (A$1.07 billion).
Selangor Turf Club, located in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, is the major racing venue in the country, hosting more than 45 meetings a year.
Singapore’s champion trainer Jason Ong relocated to Kuala Lumpur to continue his career when racing ceased at Kranji last October.
He currently leads the Malayan Racing Association trainers’ premiership with 37 winners so far in 2025.
Author
Related Articles
Straight Talk – ATC’s Supreme Court win, movement on the pattern, Australia’s most travelled trainers and when is the best time to sell a colt?
Hosts Bren O’Brien and Tim Rowe dissect the Supreme Court decision involving the Australian Turf Club, look at possible movement on the pattern, the trainers which have been to the most racetracks and the economics behind when to sell a potential stallion.
Written In The Stars – A decade on – How Adrian Bott found his way in the shadow of Tulloch Lodge legends
Soft-spoken and studiously modest, Adrian Bott has spent a decade alongside Gai Waterhouse shaping Tulloch Lodge’s modern chapter. He talks to Jessica Owers about balancing pressure and expectation, all the while proving the quietest voices in racing can still command the highest respect.
Redgum rising – how a stable is blooming with a four-legged billboard
More than two decades on from Hollow Bullet, Redgum Racing remains a working partnership between John McArdle and Brent Clayton that has made the most of its opportunities to return the stable to top-level racing.