Arena Racing Company (ARC) and 1/ST have teamed up to create new opportunities for feature races in the US and UK.
As part of the new agreement, winners from select top races at Doncaster Racecourse will receive complimentary entry to events at 1/ST’s US tracks. This includes the debut California Crown race day at Santa Anita Park on 28 September and the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on 25 January, 2025.
At the upcoming Betfred St Leger Festival, winners of the Group 2 Betfred May Hill Stakes and the Carlsberg Danish Pilsner Flying Childers Stakes will earn invitations with no entry fees to major US races.
The May Hill Stakes winner will be invited to the $500,000 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational at Gulfstream Park in January 2025, while the Flying Childers Stakes winner will receive entry to the $750,000 California Crown Eddie D. Turf Sprint at Santa Anita Park in late September.
Additionally, Season 12 of the All-Weather Championships will allow horses with three qualifying runs on artificial surfaces in the US to compete in the UK, Ireland or France. The winner of the Carousel Club Handicap at Gulfstream Park on 25 January will gain entry to the All-Weather Championships Mile Final at Newcastle Racecourse on Good Friday, provided they meet the qualifying criteria.
Brendan Parnell, Director of Media and International at ARC, said: “We are delighted to announce this partnership with 1/ST to offer the winners of two of the most high-profile races during the Betfred St Leger Festival the opportunity to take up some exciting opportunities in the USA.
“Likewise, in extending the qualification criteria for the All-Weather Championships, and the link with Gulfstream Park, we hope that we might look to add some further international interest in the £1m Good Friday fixture, alongside the long standing Irish and French participation.”
Both ARC and 1/ST will offer travel subsidies to the connections of qualifying horses.
This agreement builds on the recent strategic alliance between ARC, 1/ST, Tabcorp and Racecourse Media Group, aimed at creating a global network of rights holders to distribute racing content across multiple international markets.
Aidan Butler, President of 1/ST, commented: “We’re thrilled to expand our existing partnership with ARC. Working with Doncaster and its revered St Leger Festival is truly a privilege, while we’re also looking forward to sending over a horse for the All-Weather Championships next Spring at Newcastle. Collectively, we’re playing our part to bring US and UK racing closer together across elite races on all surfaces.
“By coupling timeless tradition to forward-thinking innovation, via newly-conceived concepts like the California Crown at Santa Anita Park on 28 September (California’s richest day of racing outside the Breeders’ Cup), we will only build on this association and progressive program in the years ahead.
“At 1/ST, our goal is always the betterment of top-class international fields, a cornerstone project in growing and sustaining the sport we love on both sides of the pond.”
