The UK Tote Group has reached an agreement with the Sweden’s former horse racing monpoloy AB Trav och Galopp (ATG) to offer its customers access to betting on Swedish racing.
UK punters will be able to place a range of bets on Swedish thoroughbred and harness racing, including win, place, trifecta and exacta bets. Work is also ongoing to open up Swedish multi-leg V-bets to Tote customers.
Tote will also live stream all of the Swedish races on its website, with customers able to access coverage without having to place a bet on the race.
The deal comes as punters in the UK are faced with limited horse racing betting options due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus (Covid-19), with many sports events having been cancelled in an effort to slow the spread of the virus.
All British racing has been suspended until at least 30 April, while Irish racing has been shut down until 19 April at the earliest. Further afield, New Zealand Racing and the TAB have halted all races until 21 April.
“In these unprecedented times we are all working together across horseracing to do what we can to support the sport and its participants,” UK Tote Group chief executive Alex Frost said. “We want to help increase interest in racing and via innovation and collaboration ensure pool betting can help drive revenue back to the sport.
“Our new partnership with ATG is a valuable example of this with racing fans now able to enjoy watching and betting on Swedish racing for the first time with the Tote.”
ATG chief executive Hasse Lord Skarplӧth added: “We are all affected by the situation the world is in right now, both in our private and professional lives. Under these circumstances it is good that in the short term we have been able to work with the UK Tote to offer betting on Swedish racing for their customers for the first time, thereby generating revenue to the sport.
“We intend to continue to exchange ideas and develop the partnership between the UK Tote and ATG to help benefit racing in both our countries.”
UK Tote Group’s Frost said that the organisation is also in talks with a number of other associations around the world to help introduce further betting options for players in the UK.
Frost said: “In addition to our work with ATG, we are in discussions with a number of another international partners which we look forward to providing an update on in the coming weeks.”
