BETS totalling more than R3 million with Australian tote betting company Tabcorp generated a record TAB Place pool for an ordinary race meeting in South Africa in Race 5 at Scottsville on Sunday.

The net Place pool on the race was R3.1 million and 98.2% of the pool was wagered by a Tabcorp account holder in Australia. Where possible, Tabcorp commingles all bets on South African racing into TAB pools.

The bulk of the Tabcorp customer’s Place bets on the race were on first and second favourites, Chosen Goddess and Orange Blossom respectively, with some R1.35 million net bet on each. More than R80,000 net was also wagered on each of Dirtydealin Mamma, Mrs Ching and Fantasy Rock.

Orange Blossom duly won and Fantasy Rock ran third, but Chosen Goddess could manage only fourth and did not qualify for a Place payout, resulting in a significant overall loss for the Tabcorp account holder.

The race was scheduled to start 2.30pm, but only got underway 95 seconds later which was 28 seconds after the last of the Australian punter’s bets.

Due to queries from several customers, TAB would like to point out yet again that all pools on South African races close when the runners break from the starting gate. No bets, locally or internationally, can be taken after that.

It takes up to 30 seconds after pools close for all bets struck before the off to be processed by TAB’s Amtote betting system and a maximum of 30 seconds after that for the final provisional payouts to be displayed.

Vee Moodley, Executive Director Sports Betting at Phumelela, pointed out that the Tabcorp customer’s bets had created value in the TAB Place pool on all horses apart from the first and second favourites. “There was time for South African punters to assess the value created by the huge bets on the top two in the betting. We welcome international participation in TAB pools because overall our South African customers benefit from this participation,” Moodley said.

“I would like to add that on the face of it the bets taken by the Australian punter do not make sense and consequently we have requested Tabcorp to provide with us with an explanation,” he said.