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The Howden Neom Turf Cup, one of the highlights of the Saudi Cup meeting, has been upgraded to Group 1 status ahead of next year's running. Meanwhile, global insurance broker Howden has extended its partnership with the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia (JCSA) for a further three years, taking the race sponsorship to 2028.   The addition of the Howden Neom Turf Cup to The Saudi Cup's line up of Group 1 races now takes the tally of top flight contests on the day to three, with a glittering undercard including three Group 2s, one Group 3 and a newly minted Listed contest after an upgrade to the Tuwaiq Cup.  In addition, the King Saud Cup, held this year on December 27, has also been raised from domestic Group 1 status to an International Listed Race. The Howden Neom Turf Cup has been quick to rise through the classifications, with the 2100m race achieving Group 3 status ahead of its 2022 renewal before being promoted to Group 2 ahead of the 2024 running. A runaway seven-length success for Shadwell's subsequent Group 1 Royal Ascot Prince Of Wales's Stakes and Group 1 Juddmonte International winner Mostahdaf in 2023, and a strike for the Sir Alex Ferguson-owned Spirit Dancer (GB) the following year, would have helped boost the race's status. The dominant display from the Japanese Shin Emperor over Calif and Irish St Leger winner and Melbourne Cup runner Al Riffa this year sealed the three-year average the Asian Pattern Committee needed to provide Saudi Arabia with the upgrade, which this year will take place on February 14, as the nation hosts the 41st Asian Racing Conference. The Howden Neom Turf Cup now sits alongside the USD$20m Saudi Cup as a Group 1 event, with the world's richest race having received that recognition before just its third running in 2022. The Obaiya Arabian Classic completes the trio of top tier contests held on Saudi Cup day. Announcing the new three-year extended sponsorship, Howden Founder and CEO David Howden said, “I love racing in Riyadh. It's been incredible watching the transformation of the course in the last few years and seeing Prince Bandar realise his vision of turning horse racing in the Kingdom into such an incredible spectacle. What's so special about Saudi is that it's a truly global race meeting. The top trainers and jockeys whether from the UK, Europe, America or, of course, Japan – who have dominated the Howden Neom Cup in recent years – are not just attracted by the fantastic prize money but by the incredible competition. And the upgrade of the Howden Neom Cup to a Group One race is a testament to the incredible success of the meeting.” He added, “Yet our relationship with JCSA is only just hitting its stride. So I couldn't be prouder to extend our partnership for a further three years and see our name attached to such a prestigious race.  More broadly, following on from our recent exciting partnership renewals at Ascot, Victoria Racing Club and Bahrain Turf Club, this sponsorship underlines our commitment to global racing itself. So there's a huge amount to look forward to and I can't wait to cheer home the first ever Group 1 winner of the Howden Neom Turf Cup!” The post Boost For Saudi Cup Meeting As Neom Turf Upgraded To Group 1 Status appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

You ain’t going to catch the 50k punter with your legislative net are you. If you’ve got 50k to bet with you’re going to work out a way around it and you ain’t going to be interested in their discount odds.

You wonder if they are letting the big sports punters on in the head to head options, on the Cricket, Rugby and the like, recently with Geo blocking they extended the punters promise to some sports options to a minimum of a $1000, so one wonders what happens to the guys who might want 50 grand on the ABs or the Aussie head to head, Betfair was the place for them, even had honest cash outs, are those punters being accepted or are not welcome, meaning many have given up.

So much can be achieved if everyone is on the same page.  Ego's, hidden agendas and stupidity tend to take over in some places.

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There's a whole bunch of punters having their first ever bet on  Melbourne Cup because they're 18 and couldn't have a bet the year before cos not old enough. Not because Entain have won them over or any other reason he wants you to believe.

Just watched “The Guerin Report”. the CEO of Entain here and Australia, Andrew Vouros was interviewed by Michael Guerin. Was a wee bit interesting and appeared to be some not so convincing answers given. Guerin asked Andrew Vouros whether at the end of the 5 years Entain would pull the plug on racing? To be fair he was hardly going to say yes we will be pulling the plug, but you can take it that they will certainly not be as generous as they currently are. He was pretty airy fairy with his answer and think we know what is going to happen? Mr Vouros also stated that they were in the business of selling more and more bets to increase turnover! Well I can tell you that that is an untruth and he knows it, but probably the same worldwide. They could be increasing turnover significantly however  they are restricting turnover massively by several means, ridiculous restrictions on punters and stopping punters from being able to bet at all on some options!!!!! Interesting somehow that Mr Vouros knew what per centage of punters had their first ever bet on a horse race on the Melbourne Cup this year lol 😂  How????? They couldve  been betting every year with cash at a TAB rather than TAB account. At the end of the day it is their business that NZ sold out to, and hopefully racing thrives due to their actions, but do we believe it is going to?      

Agree with every one of your statements. Entain entered into the contract with no interest with improving racing, the money they were to put into racing was just the bribe that made the TAB think they were the White Knights! They were after Sports Betting and online gambling and the racing was effectively the liability they were prepared to wear for a few years. Yes HRNZ decision making to make harness racing sustainable has been very poor and they have not had the successful business people that They needed. It is very hard to fathom why many of these decisions have been made but they just seem to pluck them out of the air and are not held to account. what I do know is that they are definitely shortening the life of harness racing being viable for many in the industry despite what they say about everything going well!   

Retail growth he talks about be the punters they’ve restricted going betting on machines cos they can’t get bet on their accounts.