🔒 🔒 National tote cleared for takeoff, testing to commence next week

Tabcorp is set to begin testing its national tote late next week after securing regulatory approval, putting the long-anticipated One Pool project on course for a possible launch on the first weekend of October.

Mt Gambier’s greyhound meeting next Thursday is among the likely fixtures to be the first to use the unified system, while a Tamworth harness program and a Warwick thoroughbred meeting have also featured in plans.

The tests won’t be branded One Pool, but for each race, wagers that previously flowed into the NSW, SuperTAB and UniTAB pools will be combined. Customers betting into those pools will receive the same dividend.

The trial product will use technology that Tabcorp has already deployed for international racing. The national One Pool brand and updated Sky graphics won’t be launched until next month.

The trial is scheduled to grow on Friday, September 25, which is a public holiday in Victoria. Thoroughbred meetings at Coleraine and Lismore have been identified as candidates to operate with unified pools, alongside two fixtures in each of the other codes. The Straight understands that Tabcorp is keeping its options open on which meetings it will test.

Testing will pause on Saturday, September 26, when the AFL Grand Final and Golden Rose meeting at Rosehill are held. The national tote will also be absent the following day, when Caulfield stages the Group 1 Manikato Stakes.

The following week will see a full day’s test on all domestic meetings, likely to be Monday, September 28. Further testing will continue through that week as Tabcorp prepares to introduce the One Pool branding.

Subject to those trials, the weekend of October 3 and 4 seems the most likely timeline for the formal launch. Tabcorp has not confirmed the date and has said that it will depend on how testing proceeds, but it did confirm that key state-based regulators have approved the initiative.

If it were to proceed, that schedule would put One Pool’s first Saturday on Turnbull Stakes day at Flemington and Epsom Handicap day at Randwick. TAB sponsors both Group 1 races.

Sky Channel’s refreshed graphics are expected to display fixed odds and a single One Pool dividend once the product is launched.

The national tote will replace Australia’s three jurisdiction-based pools with one larger market operating across thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing each day.

Tabcorp expects the larger pool to produce greater liquidity and more stable dividends. Chief executive Gillon McLachlan has also previously identified tote-exclusive products and international co-mingling as opportunities after launch.

“A merged pool will increase liquidity for punters and create greater price stability,” McLachlan said when outlining Tabcorp’s strategy.

The project reaches testing after years of unsuccessful attempts to align state rules, commercial agreements and technology. Racing NSW approved the national tote in July as part of a broader agreement with Tabcorp, leaving state wagering regulators to complete the approval process.

The launch also comes as Tabcorp tries to arrest a long decline in parimutuel betting. Its tote pools have been contracting by about 5 to 6 per cent a year, while tote wagering’s contribution to company revenue has fallen from 50 per cent in 2021/22 to about one-third.

The opening trials will give Tabcorp its first domestic data from the unified system before One Pool is rolled out to customers during the spring carnival.