Marking the largest deal in Down Royal‘s history, Ladbrokes has been named as the new sponsor for the racecourse’s first Grade 1 race in this year’s jumps season.
The sponsored race will be named the Ladbrokes Champion Chase, with the winner set to win €140,000 in prize money.
Nicola McGeady, Ladbrokes Head of PR, said: “Ladbrokes has a long and proud association with top-class horseracing and we are thrilled to be embarking on this exciting new sponsorship of the November festival of racing at Down Royal.”
The long-established two-day Festival – staged on 1st and 2nd November – is the highlight of the racing calendar at Down Royal, and will feature the WKD Hurdle, which is said to be ‘the richest hurdle race run in Northern Ireland’.
Down Royal chief executive Emma Meehan commented on the new partnership: “We are delighted to welcome Ladbrokes to our growing family of key sponsors and partners and look forward to working with them over the next three years.
“The most prestigious of our race meetings, the November festival, is set to be the biggest yet and, with attendance up 12 per cent year-on-year, we are anticipating a crowd of over 10,000 over the two days.”