BELFAST entrepreneur Vincent Caldwell has confirmed he is in "advanced negotiations" to sign up his first British track to his new virtual live racing product which is currently offering a regulated digital tote betting service for punters in the US.
And he believes it will be an "absolute game-changer" in how people can enjoy placing small stakes for mega winnings, and also for how race courses can generate revenue.
Caldwell (59), a global pioneer of online betting firms (he started betinternet, which went on to become the first such company to list on the London Stock Exchange), currently runs Virtual Software (VS), based in the Isle of Man.
VS has developed a world-first virtual racing software that creates races in real time, and last year he secured the exclusive rights to multiple iconic real-world premiere US thoroughbred tracks and stadiums.
His company has built six tracks so far including Tampa Bay Downs in Florida, Hawthorne in Chicago and Parx in Philadelphia.
Tracks seven and eight will be ready to strike bets by the end of this year, with another four by the end of the first quarter next year.
"Significantly, we're in the final stages of legals to secure our first British track, an iconic venue everybody with the slightest interest in horse-racing will know," he told the Irish News.
"That adds a whole different dynamic to our business, and will hopefully open the door for other UK and Irish courses to come on board."
A non-disclosure order prevents him from revealing the name of the course at this stage, but he added: "We could be in a position to go public in a matter of weeks."
VS products are unique in that, for the first time, they are Tote bets rather than fixed odds, and are based on historical results that were run on a real race track.
They are not randomly generated events, but live racing events held in virtual form.
The first products have been built in the UK, using software developers who have worked on the Avatar and Harry Potter films and even James Bond movies.
Caldwell said: "This will be a new source of revenue for tracks, which will get a commission on every wager struck.
"We will be running 87,600 virtual races a year and showing them online, in casinos and off-track betting offices via TV and an app."
He added: "A track that signs up with us will have a branded virtual live product capable of offering 7,300 betting events per track.
"There are no hidden costs. We pay for the product. The tracks just need to grant us permission to use their logos and historical data and then they go live with thousands of races a year, all based on previous races run on their courses."
Pre-lockdown Caldwell was a regular race-goer in Ireland, notably at Downpatrick, where at the summer bank holiday meeting last year he sponsored two races, including one in memory of his late father Charles, who owned the Royal Avenue hotel in Belfast and was chair of the Ulster Licensed Vintners Association.
