BELFAST-born entrepreneur and one of Ireland's earliest pioneers of online betting Vincent Caldwell has scaled the last hurdle in his bid to have his new 'virtual racing' product fully licensed and 'live' for punters in the US.
Now domiciled in the Isle of Man, his company Virtual Software (VS) has developed a world-first virtual racing software that creates races in real time.
He has just secured the exclusive rights to multiple iconic real-world tracks such as Derby Lane, Palm Beach, Hawthorne and Tampa Bay Downs, and is now concluding deals with a number of other premiere US thoroughbred tracks and stadiums.
The success of his venture, however, depended on US regulatory approval - but that has now been secured after an historic Senate vote in Oregon.
And it means it is fully compliant with the US standards for betting across the traditional on and off-track betting channels and will be the first virtual racing product range to operate under Tote rules, tapping into a potential 100 billion dollar betting pool.
Vincent (58) - whose late father Charles was a well-known businessman in Belfast who owned the Royal Avenue Hotel and numerous pubs and off-licences - told the Irish News that his virtual racing product will go live from the end of this month and be available on at least seven US tracks by October.
VS was established with the specific goal of designing a bespoke software system that provides true computer generated virtual horse and greyhound racing with unpredictable random results, using real animals running on real tracks, based on real race data and not on robotic random number generated data.
"This is a global first, and is the dream ticket for small-time punters who want to stake as little as a couple of dollars to win hundreds of thousands," said Vincent, who is also co-owner with his mother Kathleen of the horse Poormans Hill, which won the Ulster Grand National at Downpatrick last year.
"Virtual racing is nothing new, and indeed profits in virtual betting in the UK now exceed those of soccer betting, which is extraordinary considering that it is a relatively new betting phenomenon.
"But the unique difference with what we're doing is that the racing will come from ‘real’ tracks rather than fictitious ones with made-up names."
Vincent, who led the listing of the first online betting company based in the Isle of Man from a £125,000 start-up in 1998 to a stock market listing 18 months later which valued it at £26 million, says most tracks only operate racing on 12 or 14 days a year with generally six races a card, so they can only run around 80 races a year.
"But a track that grants us their virtual rights will greatly increase their global profile with their brand being visible 24/7," he added.
"For each virtual track we build, we can run 87,600 races each year. So, with just seven tracks built, we can run over 600,000 races a year - or 1,680 races a day compared to live racing in the USA, where approximately 140 races are run per day."
Vincent has already secured distribution and customer service arrangements with Off-Track LLC, which will distribute his software to casinos, racetracks, betting shops and online betting outlets. He has also finalised a joint venture partnership with Amtote, the world's largest Tote wagering company.
He and his team, which includes Dave Mousley, co-founder of the company that created virtual racing products in 2000, expect those who pumped early-stage finance into VS (they include a number of businesspeople in Northern Ireland) to "multiple their investment many many times over".
Indeed Virtual Software's audited financial projections show it making a bottom-line profit of £5.6 million this year, soaring to £68.9 million at the end of 2020.
"The business is set for stellar growth, and we're delighted at getting to this stage," Vincent added.
"The Stronach Group and the New York Racing Association (NYRA) have just requested that we build their tracks. They operate world famous tracks such as Belmont Park, Saratoga and Aqueduct in New York as well as Santa Anita in California, Pimlico in Maryland, and GulfStream Park in Florida."
Vincent, who recently married Maneerat at a lavish ceremony at Hillsborough Castle, where guests included Irish singer-songwriter Brian Kennedy, said: "I do feel like I'm the happiest man in the world right now."
