WHILE horse racing has maintained many of its traditions it has not been immune to technological advances.

Betting on horses has long been a component of the sport, and many people consider it to be part of the experience of going to the racetrack on race days.

For more than a century, wagering on these races was done at the racetrack, with betting shops using totes and bookmakers displaying the odds for each horse on a board. The transactions would be made in cash, and there would be a scrum among racegoers to ensure that their wagers were put in on time for the race.

While this form of wagering still exists, technology has introduced new possibilities for consumers to bet on horse races. The introduction of mobile betting (MBet) is far handier because it may be done at the racetrack or from any place else.

MBet — which came about in 2018 at Caymanas Park — is a web-based platform that allows punters to bet from any mobile device and place a full suite of bets on either local horse racing or live simulcast racing from several overseas tracks, including Gulf Stream in Florida, Aqueduct in New York, and Woodbine in Canada. They will also be able to compare odds more quickly, pay with their debit cards, and keep track of all their betting slips.

In addition, as technology advances, so does the racing product. As a result, Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), the local horse racing promoter, has decided to integrate the MBet platform into the Supreme Ventures (SV) Games app so as to continue to build its offerings. SV Games is an app that allows consumers to access Supreme Ventures games from wherever they are, and at any time they desire.

SVREL Executive Chairman Solomon Sharpe says the goal is to provide customers with more gaming possibilities on a single platform.

“When I first came here, everybody wanted a platform that they could go to anywhere that Supreme Ventures sells a bet, to place horse racing wagers,” Sharpe told the Jamaica Observer.

“From the horse racing point of view, they want to go to the lottery terminals. But as we did speak about innovations and technology, the best way to accomplish this is to put it on a mobile device — and with SV Games you will have access to Caymanas Park and all the other Supreme Ventures products,” Sharpe said.

“And again, we are continuously evolving, we are continuously finding better ways to connect with our punters and making sure it is as convenient to them as possible.”

Sharpe says the feedback has been excellent since the initiative’s inception in September, and shared that it should be officially launched before the start of the new year.

“You have people who don’t want to have to work with three or four apps, or have to do one bet on their phones and then go to a different location for something else,” he said. “The feedback has been tremendous as you will have one app for all of this.

“We went live on September 28 and both apps [MBet and SV Games] are still running parallel, but come January 1 everything will be rolling up officially in SV Games.”