An Afternoon at the ASCOT Races courtesy of
U*BET Great British and Irish Horse Racing

Following the successful introduction of betting on Great British and Irish HorseRacing, MALTCO LOTTERIES held an Afternoon at the Ascot Races, courtesy of U*BET Great British and Irish (GBI) HorseRacing at the St. James Cavalier Theatre, which was turned into an "Ascot enclosure" for the event. The event of Ascot races which included amongst others, the Queen's Anne's, The King's Stand and St. James's Palace Stakes were shown live at the Theatre. These are considered as some of the highest quality races of international significance. The guests, who donned traditional hats for the event, were treated to strawberries and cream, cucumber sandwiches, champagne and, of course, Pimms to help them get into the spirit of Ascot.

MALTCO LOTTERIES is collaborating with GBI Racing, (a joint venture company between Attheraces and Racecourse Media Group) and I-neda (a UK-based systems provider) to make available to Maltese punters a full portfolio of top quality multi-leg and single-leg bets through its network of over 220 agents spread throughout Malta and Gozo. The offering includes races from 60 UK racecourses and all 26 Irish tracks marketed under the U*BET Great British and Irish HorseRacing brand offering amongst others some of the world's most renowned thoroughbred racing showcase events such as The Royal Ascot and the Epsom Derby. In total over 1,800 race fixtures a year will be on offer. All bets are placed in the respective UK Tote or Irish Tote. Players who make the correct predictions get a share of the pool after the respective take-out, depending on their stake.

In preparation to the setting-up of the game, numerous technical challenges had to be overcome due to the complexity of the systems involved. It was through the expertise of Intralot SA, MALTCO, I-neda and GBI personnel that this game came to fruition.

Thus with this new addition to its portfolio of games, MALTCO continues to emphasise its position as a "boutique" lottery which makes it more unique to the global lottery business.

Horse racing is probably the oldest sport in history, having its origins among the prehistoric normadic tribesmen of Central Asia who first domesticated the horse about 4500BC. For thousands of years, horse racing flourished as the sport of kings and the nobility. By the time humans began to keep written records, horse racing was an organised sport in all major civilizations from Central Asia to the Mediterranean. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 638BC and the sport became a public obsession in the Roman Empire.

MALTCO LOTTERIES also supplies all the necessary information through its dedicated website www.maltco.com in collaboration with GBI Racing. Through this website, horse racing enthusiasts have available multiple sources of information, giving details of the horses and jockeys participating in the various races. In fact by clicking on the U*BET British and Irish Racing icon found at the bottom of MALTCO's portal front page, players would find all the vital information regarding the different daily races as well as betting instructions. Races are also transmitted live at a number of MALTCO agents' shops together with the relevant information.

Dr. John Katakis, MALTCO's CEO said "MALTCO LOTTERIES is pleased to be extending its horse race betting product by including Great British and Irish Horse Racing in collaboration with GBI Racing. Maltese punters are already very familiar with horse racing in Britain and Ireland, as a result of the long historical affiliation between Malta and Britain and have shown a good response to their introduction. Today's event was chosen since Ascot, is not just a race meeting but an event in the British social calendar with all the pageantry associated with it including Her Majesty's presence at the event. And, of course, the Maltese fondly remember the various visits by her Majesty to the Island." For more information about the game, players may view the Players' Booklet which gives all the rules and regulations either at all the MALTCO Points of Sale, or it can be viewed or downloaded by visiting www.maltco.com/ubet_gb_ir_hr. Moreover, players may also contact MALTCO's HelpLine on telephone number 2388 3333.

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