SOUTH African horseracing and tote betting company Phumelela hosted the global tote pools on the recent Dubai World Cup 2013 and turnover for the nine-race meeting was R60 million – a huge 26% increase on 2012.

Nearly 60 tote hubs and operators from 18 different countries commingled into the global tote pools on the world’s richest race meeting with bets being instantly transmitted to Phumelela’s Amtote computerised betting system.

The 18 countries that participated in the global tote pools included Austria, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Canada, Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Peru, Trinidad, the UK and the USA, which contributed significantly to the growth in turnover.

USA challenger Animal Kingdom won the $10-million Dubai World Cup, the richest race in the world and the topliner at the meeting.

The meeting was a huge success for South African horseracing in general with South African-breds Soft Falling Rain and Shea Shea winning the $1-million Godolphin Mile and the $1-million Al Quoz Sprint respectively.

In addition SA-bred The Apache earned $1-million for finishing second in the Dubai Duty Free.