Tempted’s tote dividend tumbles late as Everest sets World Pool record

The Everest has set a World Pool record for single-race turnover, but punters who backed the winner Tempted on the tote were paid a dividend well below the price they saw on screens when the $20 million race jumped.

HK$113.2 million (AU$20.7 million) was bet into World Pool on Saturday’s race at Randwick, World Pool announced on X. The previous record was the HK$99.2 million bet on the 2025 Everest.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s head of commingling, Jon Knapman, put the record down to Ka Ying Rising, saying that “the participation of Hong Kong’s global star has once again carried World Pool to new heights.”

Ka Ying Rising started the $1.35 favourite with bookmakers but was $1.04 on World Pool.  

Godolphin’s Tempted, trained by Ciaron Maher and ridden by Chad Schofield, won a thrilling edition of the race and ended Ka Ying Rising’s 21-race winning streak.

Tempted’s final World Pool win dividend was $8.80, but several accounts on social media reported that as the field prepared to jump, the mare’s tote price was $15.40.

The screen shots shared by @nickwhite1995 show that Ka Ying Rising’s price did not shift, while Tempted, Jimmysstar ($45.70 to $26.95) and Joliestar ($42.70 to $29.15) all shortened dramatically in the final moments of betting.

“Aussie punters are now accustomed to knowing exactly what price they’re getting, thanks to the widespread adoption of fixed odds. Accurate, real-time tote prices across every screen should be priority number one,” Matt Taylor wrote on X..

However, Tempted’s final tote odds were still greater than her fixed odds won price of $7.

Hong Kong Jockey Club CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, wrote on his blog:

“The turnover in the World Pool and the lucrative odds of $8.8 for the win for TEMPTED shows the real benefit of the World Pool combining global liquidity.”

“Furthermore, we are appreciative of our partnership with TabCorp in Australia, supporting The Everest and being a partner in the World Pool and respecting our decision not to have fixed odds wagering offerings on our Hong Kong races while other bookmakers in Australia are exploiting our rights without our consent.”

TAB’s own international pooling guide tells customers that “bigger Totalisator pools will lead to fewer fluctuations in dividends, giving you more certainty.”

When the Australian One Pool is commingled into Hong Kong, Hong Kong rules and deductions apply. That means a 17.5 per cent take on win betting, compared with 14.5 per cent on domestic One Pool races.

Tabcorp launched One Pool on October 2. Chief wagering officer Michael Fitzsimons told The Straight before the launch that the business was examining ways to mitigate dramatic late dividend changes.

In the same interview he gave this advice: “If you want to back Ka Ying Rising in the Everest, you probably want to do it on the fixed. If you want to do any other horse, you probably want to do it on the Tote.”

That proved the case of price comparison, but the significant late fluctuations raise concerns around price certainty for punters.  

Hong Kong punters had already described late fluctuations in Hong Kong’s local racing market over the past 12 months as “wild”, The Straight reported on October 5.

Sources in that article said rebate arrangements through overseas tote operators encourage high-volume betting close to the start of races.