SINGAPORE - Singapore Pools will take over all horse betting operations from the Singapore Turf Club (STC) from Jan 7 next year.

The Tote Board Group, which comprises the Tote Board and its wholly-owned subsidiaries STC and Singapore Pools, made the announcement on Monday (Oct 29).

The consolidation of betting operations was part of a regular review of business operations within the group to "achieve synergies and improve cost efficiencies", it said in a statement.

The move will streamline operations and allow the consolidation of IT systems, product channels and customer care for Singapore Pools, added the Tote Board Group.

Daily horse racing operations and the Turf Club at Kranji will remain under STC, and only the betting functions will be run by Singapore Pools. These include the betting outlets at the Singapore Racecourse and all off-course betting centres.

There will also be no change in game and payout structure, and punters can continue to place bets at existing retail and remote channels for horse betting.

"Singapore Turf Club will focus on its core competency in managing and providing high quality horse racing," said the Tote Board Group.

The STC was founded in 1842 and is the oldest and only horse racing club in Singapore.

The Straits Times understands that the consolidation will not lead to a loss of jobs, and that about 80 of the staff involved in STC betting operations will be transferred to Singapore Pools.

Singapore Pools will also be taking over iTote, the remote horse betting application service. The iTote app will continue to run separately from the Singapore Pools mobile app that allows users to place lottery and sports bets electronically.

Singapore Pools and STC will also remain as separate legal entities.

After the move, Singapore Pools will become the sole legal operator for lottery and sports betting here.

Singapore Pools chief executive officer Seah Chin Siong said: "The highest level of rigour and accountability in social safeguards and responsible gaming measures will be maintained with the consolidation of betting activities."

In a list of answers to frequently asked questions, the Tote Board Group said that Singapore Pools intends to eventually offer a unified account management system for all sports, lottery and horse betting services.

This is expected to be implemented about a year after horse betting services are transferred to Singapore Pools.

The transfer comes in the wake of moves by Singapore Pools earlier this year to go green and reduce costs. In July, it did away with pre-printed Singapore Sweep tickets and instead printed them on demand.

In September, it introduced a paperless eBetslip app that allows punters to mark out 4-D and Toto bets on e-betting slips and track their expenses to reduce the use of paper betting slips and promote responsible gaming.