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ARC, Doncaster Racecourse, Qatar Racing Join Forces For Futurity Trophy Sponsorship

Arena Racing Company (ARC), Doncaster Racecourse and Qatar Racing have partnered this year to sponsor the G1 Kameko Futurity Trophy, the organisations announced in a joint statement on Friday.

The one-mile event, worth £200,000, is the final Group 1 of the British Flat season and is set to be contested on Saturday, Oct. 28. A total of 66 entries remain, including Aidan O'Brien's unbeaten G1 National S. winner Henry Longfellow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).

“We are delighted to be able to support the 2023 Kameko Futurity Trophy, a race that consistently provides one of the highlights of the Flat season by whetting the appetite for the following year's Classics,” David Redvers, Qatar Racing's bloodstock and racing manager and owner of Tweenhills, said.

Recent Futurity Trophy winners Kameko (Kitten's Joy) and Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) both went on to victories in the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, and this year's G1 Betfred Derby, G1 Irish Derby and G1 Irish Champion winner Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) is the Futurity Trophy's reigning champion.

“Qatar Racing continue to be tremendous supporters of British Racing and we are delighted to secure their support of what is one of the highlights of the season at Doncaster,” David Leyden Dunbar, group director of Commercial Strategy and Partnerships at ARC, said. “Kameko will always have a special connection with the race as 2019's renewal, run at Newcastle Racecourse and won by Kameko, remains the only British Group 1 race to be run on an artificial surface. Our thanks go to them and the entire team at Qatar Racing for their support.”

For tickets to the Kameko Futurity, visit the Doncaster website.

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Nassau Mission Handed To Superstar French Filly Blue Rose Cen

Blue Rose Cen (Ire), one of the most exciting horses in France, is set to make her British bow in the Qatar Nassau S. at Goodwood on August 3.

Christopher Head's star completed a rare treble at Chantilly when strolling to victory in the Prix de Diane earlier this month, adding to victories in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and last year's Marcel Boussac-a feat previously achieved by the likes of Zarkava (Ire) (Zamindar), Divine Proportions (Kingmambo) and Allez France (Sea Bird {Fr}).

Blue Rose Cen, who has won seven of her nine outings, was stepping up to an extended 10 furlongs for the first time at Chantilly and Head is eager to stick at that trip as the Churchill (Ire) filly takes on older rivals for the first time at Goodwood.

He told the Nick Luck Daily Podcast, “The main idea is to still keep up with the challenges. The owner has always been bold and daring in racing challenges and we have been talking about the next stage for Blue Rose Cen and he wants to go to the Nassau to do the same as Nashwa did with the Prix de Diane and Nassau double and we really have great faith in her with that programme.

“I don't think we have got to the limit of that filly yet. I still want to encounter the older fillies without getting into a new distance, so we'll keep with the distance we know she is best at right now and try to encounter a new panel of fillies to be able to know if she is capable of getting into the Vermeille and then we will pretty much know if she is an Arc or an Opera (horse).

“Even if she is not in the race, it is a possibility she can still be supplemented into the Arc. Leopoldo Fernández Pujals of Yeguada Centurion is a really a bold and daring individual, embracing challenges, so we're trying to do our best to get the horses to those kind of challenges, and that's why we're happy to go to the Nassau.”

Head also trains Big Rock (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) for the same owner, but he failed in his Classic mission when beaten three-and-a-half lengths by Ace Impact (Ire) (Cracksman {GB}) in the Prix du Jockey Club.

That was his first attempt over further than nine furlongs and Head feels his future now lies over a mile.

He added: “He's pretty much a mile horse or a 1800-metre horse and we learned that in the Jockey Club. We will put him onto another path which is the Jacques Le Marois and probably the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes too.”

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Five Irish Tracks Reject Media Rights Deal

For the first time in history, Irish racing looks set to have two separate providers of pictures after five racecourses rejected a media rights deal on Tuesday.

At a groundbreaking general meeting of the Association of Irish Racecourses (AIR) held at the Keadeen Hotel in Newbridge, the five members of the United Irish Racecourses (UIR) voted against the five-year deal worth €47 million.

That means that the five tracks–Kilbeggan, Limerick, Roscommon, Sligo and Thurles–are now free to negotiate their own separate deal, presumably with Arena Racing Company, which could pave the way for Irish racing to return to Sky Sports Racing in 2024.

The current deal, which is due to expire at the end of this year, is with Sports Information Services [SIS] and Racecourse Media Group, which sees all Irish racing broadcast on RTV.

It is understood that UIR received “an unsolicited offer” of €100,000 per fixture from Arc last year, but the five tracks now have to request HRI's media rights committee to negotiate another contract for them

The new deal with SIS and RMG was given “preferred bidder” status last year by the Media Rights Committee, which consists of five executives from AIR and Horse Racing Ireland.

However, the five tracks expressed their dissatisfaction with the deal back in January and formed UIR. The discontent stems from how the media rights are distributed by HRI and how the funding model favours the bigger tracks.

Conor O'Neill, chairman of HRI's media rights committee, focused on the positives of the deal on Tuesday.

He said, “It's a fantastic deal and I'm delighted for the 21 racecourses who have signed up to secure it today. I would like to thank the board of AIR and our CEO Paul Hensey for their hard work and support. I would also like to especially thank our former CEO Paddy Walsh who has worked tirelessly on achieving the best possible deal for our members and the HRI media rights committee whose commitment has been extraordinary throughout the entire process.”

O'Neill added, “Although it's disappointing that it was not approved by all, today is a very positive day for the future of Irish racing, let's not take away from that. I look forward to continuing our partnership with SIS and RMG for the overwhelming majority of Irish racecourses, subject to the approval by the HRI board on Friday.”

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Betfred To Sponsor The St Leger Festival

Betfred will sponsor the Betfred St Leger Festival after a multi-year partnership was reached between Betfred, Doncaster Racecourse, and the Arena Racing Company (ARC).

Running from Sept. 14-17 in the autumn, the four-day festival will feature the final UK colts' Classic of the year–the G1 Betfred St Leger–as well as the G2 Betfred May Hill S., G2 Doncaster Cup, G2 Champagne S., and G2 Park S. Doncaster was granted city status as part of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022 which will be commemorated with the renamed Betfred City of Doncaster H., run on the final day of the four-day meeting.

Betfred boss Fred Done, said, “To have the Betfred name attached to the St Leger Festival is not just a sponsorship but a privilege. I am proud to be associated with the world's oldest Classic which is obviously synonymous with great horses like Triple Crown winner Nijinsky, Dunfermline for The Queen and Oh So Sharp for Sir Henry Cecil.”

Arena Racing Company Chief Executive, Martin Cruddace, said, “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Betfred as the headline sponsors of the St Leger Festival and of the Betfred St Leger itself.

“Fred Done and his team have long been keen supporters of British racing, and the inclusion of this historic race meeting into their sponsorship portfolio is another indication of their commitment to the sport. The whole sport is extremely fortunate to benefit from working in partnership with Fred and his team and we very much look forward to a fantastic Betfred St Leger Festival in September.”

Betfred is also the new sponsor of the G1 Betfred Derby and G1 Betfred Oaks in June.

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