Supplier adds 351 races from Saudi Arabia as new season gets underway

SIS (Sports Information Services), the leading multi-content supplier of 24/7 live betting services, has added racing from King Khalid Racecourse in Ta’if to its comprehensive horse racing portfolio, which will further boost visibility of racing from Saudi Arabia.

The 2024 Ta’if season will be held from July 4^th through September 28^th with races and simulcasts taking place on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at King Khalid Racecourse.

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The city of Ta’if is located 1,800m above sea level in the slopes of the picturesque Hijaz Mountains. The combination of moderate weather and a large population has made it the perfect home of summer racing in the Middle East since 1965.

The 39 race days are comprised of 273 Thoroughbred and 78 Purebred Arabians races. The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia (JCSA) has carded more handicaps this season as well as prep races for all major cups, offering a clear campaign path for horses and an opportunity to rise through the ranks through the Riyadh season. The prize money has increased 24% from last season with a race average of SAR104,378 (approx. US$27,800).

The key races include the Ta’if Arabian Derby on September 6^th, the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Cup (Listed) and Listed King Faisal Cup (Listed) on September 20^th for Purebred Arabians.

The extended agreement with the JCSA strengthens SIS’ portfolio of over 36,000 annual horse races, which includes the Riyadh season at King Abdulaziz Racecourse. SIS distributes racing from both JCSA racetracks to over 70 countries and is highlighted by the US$20M Saudi Cup in February.

Michele Fischer, Vice President, SIS Content Services, said: “The quality of racing in Saudi Arabia continues to improve each year and it is great that we are now able to provide our partners with content from King Khalid Racecourse in Ta’if, the only racecourse in the region that races throughout the summer months.

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“The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia has worked tirelessly to produce an engaging racing calendar and we are sure the addition of racing from Ta’if will lead to even more interest in Saudia Arabian racing.”

Continent 8 Technologies, the trusted partner and provider of global managed hosting, connectivity, cloud and cybersecurity solutions to the regulated iGaming and online sports betting market, has expanded its partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), chosen as an official solutions provider in the Solution Provider Program (SPP) by AWS.

Over the past 25-plus years, Continent 8 has earned an unrivalled reputation for reliable infrastructure and connectivity, innovating, developing and providing customers with best-in-class managed and professional services to support the most demanding online requirements.

Now, as an SPP member, this enhanced AWS collaboration will enable Continent 8 to introduce a new range of services to simplify the management of AWS cloud environments and infrastructures. The new managed and professional services include:

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Regul8 Guardrails: Regulatory compliance is non-negotiable in the betting and gaming industry. The tailormade Regul8 Guardrails solution provides customers with customised designs and configurations for easy-to-integrate compliance across cloud environments while accelerating time-to-market and expansion into new jurisdictions.

Kubernetes Everywhere: Migrating and managing Kubernetes across different cloud environments can be difficult. The Kubernetes Everywhere service makes it easy for customers to manage their containerised deployments, ensuring consistent, resource-friendly and cost-effective operation across cloud environments, data centers, edge computing infrastructures and within AWS regions using Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS).

Managed Hybrid Network: Managing hybrid and multi-cloud networks is a complex task. By integrating Continent 8 and AWS networks, the managed network services address the connectivity challenges between on-premises infrastructures, AWS Outposts, enterprise networks and AWS Regions. This ensures customers benefit from the most resilient and secure hybrid cloud connectivity path away from the public Internet.

Managed AWS Outposts: Continent 8 is the trusted advanced partner in delivering 90% of AWS Outposts to the biggest brands – including Fanatics, FanDuel and Hard Rock Digital – in the regulated betting and gaming market. Building upon this AWS Outposts portfolio, the new Managed AWS Outposts service streamlines the procurement, logistics, workload migration and ongoing management of AWS Outposts, allowing customers to focus on launch activities. Continent 8 continues to provide best-in-class connectivity and seamless access to all AWS Direct Connect (DX) on-ramp locations.

Complementing these new cloud offerings is a dedicated team of over 30 AWS-certified and AWS-trained experts available to deliver and support high-touch AWS solutions tailored to each customer’s unique requirements.

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Edward O’Connor, Chief Technology Officer, Continent 8 Technologies said: “The AWS Solution Partner Program milestone underscores Continent 8’s commitment to continuing its position as the service and solutions provider of choice to the iGaming and online sports betting market. Whether it’s hyperscale, hybrid, public or private cloud management, Continent 8 remains steadfast in delivering trusted, bespoke, best-practice and value-added cloud experiences for our customers.”

Continent 8 rapid-fire webinar: 

Extending AWS capabilities for regulated betting and gaming environments

Join Continent 8 and AWS in a rapid-fire webinar to discover the key considerations and best practices for extending, optimising and reimagining AWS hybrid and multi-cloud architectures for betting and gaming operations.

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Date: Thursday, July 11th

Time: 14:30 BST / 15:30 CEST / 09:30 ET

Duration: 30 minutes