Since the tote was created in 1928 it had been something of an anomaly as it had not been legally owned by anyone or any body.

The government took the tote formally into ownership in 2003 in order to placate a legal sale of the business to a racing trust. This option was blocked by the EU on the grounds of state aid unless such a sale was made at the true market value for the business.

The tote’s government ownership is at times misunderstood, so here are a few facts concerning our status.

• We have never taken a penny in government funding or other financial support. We contribute £millions to ‘UK plc’ every year in gross profit tax.
• We re-invest our profits (after tax) back into UK horse racing – last year we invested £4.5m sponsoring nearly 500 races across more than 100 meetings up and down the UK.
• We operate independently from the public sector.
• Due to our government ownership status and associated operating licence we currently cannot offer customers online poker or other skill based games.

The proposed sale of the tote has been an on-going topic for debate within horse racing circles for a number of years.

A formal bid to buy the business was made in 2007 by a horse racing industry consortium which included the tote management. Following a reduction in the original offer in light of the economic downturn, it was formally rejected in October 2008. Minister for Culture, Media and Sport Gerry Sutcliffe announced that the government would be not be pursuing the sale of the tote in the short to medium term due to market conditions.

Within his statement Mr Sutcliffe declared “It is right that the tote is now given time to grow the business so that any future sale will achieve maximum value. In particular, I would expect the tote and racing to continue to work closely together for the benefit of the sport and the punter.”

In October 2009 Gordon Brown announced that the tote sale was back on as part of a wider sale of government assets expected to raise £3billion to help reduce the budget deficit, however on May 6th 2010 the Labour Party lost the General Election before due diligence work could commence.

On June 22nd, the new coalition government chancellor George Osbourne indicated a resolution to the situation at long last. He stated “The Government will over the next 12 months resolve the future of the Tote in a way that secures value for the taxpayer while recognising the support the Tote currently provides the racing industry”.

That’s the story so far. We’ll update you here as and when new developments occur.