South African Quartet Pools with fractional betting offered at Doncaster (UK) and Curragh (Ireland)  – 14 September 2025

David Thiselton

 

One aspect of horseracing that the public often appear to have a misunderstanding of is the lodging of objections, with particular reference to who lodges the objection.

 

A regular lament heard in racing circles, in the case where a jockey, trainer or owner lodges an obvious looking objection, is, “Why did the stipendiary stewards not lodge the objection? They must have been sleeping.”

 

The common misconecption is that trainers, jockeys and owners only object if the stipendiary stewards do not object.

 

This is false.

 

The relevant rules on the lodgement of objections state:

 

67.7.1 An OBJECTION shall be made in WRITING and signed by the PERSON lodging it, within the time limits laid down in RULE 68.2. Except when lodged by a LICENSED OFFICIAL, such confirmation shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee, which may be refunded at the discretion of the OBJECTION BOARD.

 

67.7.2 An OBJECTION may only be lodged by the following PERSONS: 67.7.2.1 LICENSED OFFICIALS; 67.7.2.2 the OWNER and/or TRAINER, or their AUTHORISED AGENT, of a HORSE which participated in the RACE concerned; 67.7.2.3 the RIDER of a HORSE in the RACE concerned.

 

68.2 Notification of intention to object on any of the grounds referred to in this RULE shall be given verbally to the Clerk of the Scales and/or the Chief Stipendiary Steward of the SB prior to the ALL CLEAR being announced in terms of RULE 66.3.3. The notification of an OBJECTION must be confirmed in WRITING and the prescribed fee paid, or the OBJECTION withdrawn within a further 3 minutes from the expiry of the time referred to in 86 this RULE. There will be no penalty if the notification of intention to object is withdrawn within the stipulated time. In the event that any OBJECTION referred to in this RULE is not confirmed, such OBJECTION shall lapse.

 

 

 

The stipendiary stewards, upon seeing obvious interference in a race that might have affected the result, will immediately announce a “race review”. This is relayed to the commentator, who announces it publicly.

 

The stipes will then have a look at the race replays and decide whether there are grounds for an objection or not.

 

Close races are usually accompanied by emotions and this is particularly the case when a horse who should have won is hampered and loses narrowly.

 

The end result is that a trainer, jockey or one of the other connections, will sometimes burst into the boardroom and lodge an objection.

 

The stipendiary stewards might still be reviewing the race when this happens.

 

They cannot stop one of the connections from objecting.

 

As the rule states any one of the following may lodge an objection: a licensed official, the trainer or owner or their authorised agent, or the jockey.

 

The only difference when one of the connections objects, as opposed to one of the licensed officials, is that the former will have to pay a prescribed fee in order to lodge the objection.

 

This fee is forfeited if the stipes consider the objection to have been unwarranted. In addition, they may in rare cases impose a fine not exceeding R3000 on the PERSON lodging the OBJECTION.

 

The question then is why would one of the connections risk the fee when a stipendiary steward could object?

 

The answer could be that in an obvious case they would know there is no chance of the fee being forfeited, but they might believe the time in which the objection has to be lodged could lapse and would not want to risk that. An objection being lodged might also simply serve as an emotional release.

 

Tied in with the first common misconception mentioned is the belief that if the stipendiary stewards do not object, the objection has less chance of being upheld. The likely reason for this is due to the misconception that if the stipes decided not to object then they must have believed there were no grounds for it and they were thus unlikely to change their minds in the ensuing objection inquiry.

 

The other common public belief is that if the stipendiary stewards object there is more chance of the objection being upheld.

 

There is an inkling of truth in this, because the stipes will generally view the interference from all angles and in much more detail than the connections would have been able to. Obviously that takes a bit of time and the stipes will get a good idea of the nature of the interference during the review.

 

Likening this to football, when VAR suggests to the referee that he or she should come and have a look at the VAR replay, the decision is usually reversed because VAR would have been able to look at the incident in a lot more detail.

 

In horseracing the longer the review takes, the more chance there is of one of the connections objecting. This is why in the 50/50 cases it is often one of the connections, rather than a licensed official, who objects.

 

However, it is not necessarily the case that an objection lodged by the stipes will be upheld, because the first part of the process is just to ascertain whether the objection is warranted and there then has to be deliberation on whether the interfered with horse would otherwise have won the race.

 

Furthermore, only one stipendiary steward lodges the objection and he or she is then not allowed to be on the ensuing objection board.

 

If there are not three stipes to do it when one of them steps down then another licensed official is co-opted on to the objection board.

 

The officials on the objection board might well disagree with the official who lodged the objection.

We are thrilled to announce a ground-breaking new chapter in your betting experience! We’ve partnered with Colossus Bets, a leading UK-based company, to bring you an exciting new product never before seen in the South African tote betting market.

What is Colossus Bets?

Imagine betting into massive, guaranteed prize pools, often reaching life-changing sums, with the added power of controlling your bet as the action unfolds. That’s the essence of Colossus Bets! It’s a revolutionary way to play, combining the thrill of traditional tote betting with unparalleled flexibility.

Understanding the Bet Types & Functionality:

Colossus Bets specialises in pool betting, where you bet against other players. The total money wagered is placed into a “pool”, and the prize money is shared among all winning tickets. The more people who play, the larger the potential jackpot! 

Some of the Bet Types on offer

• Pick 1×2: This is a straightforward pool where you predict the result of each match – Home Win (1), Draw (X), or Away Win (2).

 

• Correct Score: This is a more challenging but potentially more lucrative pool, where you must predict the exact final result of each match

 

• Both Teams to Score: This is for fans of goals and fast paced action. Your task is to simply predict whether or not both teams will score at least one goal in a selected series of matches

 

Innovative Functionality

• Cash Out: This feature allows you to lock in a profit before all matches (legs) in your ticket are completed. After each leg, Colossus bets will make you an offer to buy your ticket based on its current value. You can choose to accept the guaranteed payout or stay in the game for a chance at the full jackpot.

 

• Syndicate Betting: Colossus Bets offers a unique way to play through Syndicate Tickets, allowing Players to team up and increase their chances of winning. Creating a Syndicate – If you have a betting strategy or consider yourself a “Pro”, you can create a Syndicate Ticket and invite other Players to contribute towards the payment of the ticket. Joining a Syndicate – Alternatively, you can join a Syndicate Ticket that another Player has already created. When you contribute to a Syndicate Ticket, you will own a share of that ticket. This share is directly proportional to the amount of money you contributed. If the Syndicate Ticket wins, you will receive a proportionate share of any returns (such as dividends or cash-out proceeds) based on your contribution. In essence, Syndicate Tickets allows Players to pool their resources, share the risk, and share the rewards!

 

• Guaranteed Huge Sports Pools: Colossus Bets offers guaranteed prize pools often reaching life-changing proportions. This means greater potential payouts for a winning ticket!

 

• Consolation Prizes: For many pools, if you narrowly miss the jackpot by getting a number of the selections correct, you can still win a share of a consolation prize. This means that you can still get a payout even if your ticket isn’t a perfect winner.

How to find the Colossus Product

To access the Colossus soccer products, simply follow these steps:

• Log in to your TOTE account on www.tote.co.za
• Once logged in, look for the “Colossus” button on the main navigation bar.
• Click the button to be taken to a new page, displaying all the available Colossus products
• Start playing!

 

Why is this a game changer for South Africa?

Colossus Bets is renowned for pioneering the Cash Out feature in multi-leg pool betting, Syndicate Betting, and for offering some of the largest sports jackpots globally. This partnership brings that innovation and scale directly to you, providing a fresh and exciting way to engage with your favourite sports.

We are confident that Colossus Bets will transform your betting experience, offering bigger thrills and more control than ever before.

Ready to get in on the action? The Colossus button on www.tote.co.za is your portal to this revolutionary product. Don’t miss out!

Be sure to look out for the Colossus horse racing products – Coming Soon!

We are thrilled to announce a ground-breaking new chapter in your betting experience! We’ve partnered with Colossus Bets, a leading UK-based company, to bring you an exciting new product never before seen in the South African tote betting market.

What is Colossus Bets?

Imagine betting into massive, guaranteed prize pools, often reaching life-changing sums, with the added power of controlling your bet as the action unfolds. That’s the essence of Colossus Bets! It’s a revolutionary way to play, combining the thrill of traditional tote betting with unparalleled flexibility.

Understanding the Bet Types & Functionality:

Colossus Bets specialises in pool betting, where you bet against other players. The total money wagered is placed into a “pool”, and the prize money is shared among all winning tickets. The more people who play, the larger the potential jackpot! 

Some of the Bet Types on offer

• Pick 1×2: This is a straightforward pool where you predict the result of each match – Home Win (1), Draw (X), or Away Win (2).

 

• Correct Score: This is a more challenging but potentially more lucrative pool, where you must predict the exact final result of each match

 

• Both Teams to Score: This is for fans of goals and fast paced action. Your task is to simply predict whether or not both teams will score at least one goal in a selected series of matches

 

Innovative Functionality

• Cash Out: This feature allows you to lock in a profit before all matches (legs) in your ticket are completed. After each leg, Colossus bets will make you an offer to buy your ticket based on its current value. You can choose to accept the guaranteed payout or stay in the game for a chance at the full jackpot.

 

• Syndicate Betting: Colossus Bets offers a unique way to play through Syndicate Tickets, allowing Players to team up and increase their chances of winning. Creating a Syndicate – If you have a betting strategy or consider yourself a “Pro”, you can create a Syndicate Ticket and invite other Players to contribute towards the payment of the ticket. Joining a Syndicate – Alternatively, you can join a Syndicate Ticket that another Player has already created. When you contribute to a Syndicate Ticket, you will own a share of that ticket. This share is directly proportional to the amount of money you contributed. If the Syndicate Ticket wins, you will receive a proportionate share of any returns (such as dividends or cash-out proceeds) based on your contribution. In essence, Syndicate Tickets allows Players to pool their resources, share the risk, and share the rewards!

 

• Guaranteed Huge Sports Pools: Colossus Bets offers guaranteed prize pools often reaching life-changing proportions. This means greater potential payouts for a winning ticket!

 

• Consolation Prizes: For many pools, if you narrowly miss the jackpot by getting a number of the selections correct, you can still win a share of a consolation prize. This means that you can still get a payout even if your ticket isn’t a perfect winner.

How to find the Colossus Product

To access the Colossus soccer products, simply follow these steps:

• Log in to your TOTE account on www.tote.co.za
• Once logged in, look for the “Colossus” button on the main navigation bar.
• Click the button to be taken to a new page, displaying all the available Colossus products
• Start playing!

 

Why is this a game changer for South Africa?

Colossus Bets is renowned for pioneering the Cash Out feature in multi-leg pool betting, Syndicate Betting, and for offering some of the largest sports jackpots globally. This partnership brings that innovation and scale directly to you, providing a fresh and exciting way to engage with your favourite sports.

We are confident that Colossus Bets will transform your betting experience, offering bigger thrills and more control than ever before.

Ready to get in on the action? The Colossus button on www.tote.co.za is your portal to this revolutionary product. Don’t miss out!

Be sure to look out for the Colossus horse racing products – Coming Soon!

Introducing Colossus Bets

We are thrilled to announce a ground-breaking new chapter in your betting experience! We’ve partnered with Colossus Bets, a leading UK-based company, to bring you an exciting new product never before seen in the South African tote betting market.

What is Colossus Bets?

Imagine betting into massive, guaranteed prize pools, often reaching life-changing sums, with the added power of controlling your bet as the action unfolds. That’s the essence of Colossus Bets! It’s a revolutionary way to play, combining the thrill of traditional tote betting with unparalleled flexibility.

Here’s what you can look forward to:

• Guaranteed Huge Sports Pools: Colossus Bets offers enormous, guaranteed prize pools. This means bigger potential pay-outs for a winning ticket!

• Multi-Leg Challenges: Test your sporting knowledge by predicting the outcome of multiple events (legs) within a single pool. The more legs you correctly predict, the closer you get to that colossal jackpot!

• The Power of Cash Out: This is where Colossus Bets truly revolutionises your play! For the first time in South African tote betting, you will be offered the option to Cash Out your bet before all legs of your ticket are complete. If some of your early selections (Legs) are winning, you could secure a profit even if the later legs are still in doubt. You can choose to cash out a portion of your ticket or wait for the completion of all the legs for a possible larger prize, giving you unprecedented control over your potential winnings.

• Syndicate Betting: Colossus Bets offers a unique way to play through Syndicate Tickets, allowing Players to team up and increase their chances of winning. Creating a Syndicate – If you have a betting strategy or consider yourself a “Pro”, you can create a Syndicate Ticket and invite other Players to contribute towards the payment of the ticket. Joining a Syndicate – Alternatively, you can join a Syndicate Ticket that another Player has already created. When you contribute to a Syndicate Ticket, you will own a share of that ticket. This share is directly proportional to the amount of money you contributed. If the Syndicate Ticket wins, you will receive a proportionate share of any returns (such as dividends or cash-out proceeds) based on your contribution. In essence, Syndicate Tickets allows Players to pool their resources, share the risk, and share the rewards!

Why is this a game changer for South Africa?

Colossus Bets is renowned for pioneering the Cash Out feature in multi-leg pool betting, Syndicate Betting, and for offering some of the largest sports jackpots globally. This partnership brings that innovation and scale directly to you, providing a fresh and exciting way to engage with your favourite sports.

We are confident that Colossus Bets will transform your betting experience, offering bigger thrills and more control than ever before.

Ready to get in on the action? The Colossus button on www.tabgold.co.za is your portal to this revolutionary product.

Don’t miss out!