Porter-Mackrell Named Employee of the Year at TIEA Awards

Newsells Park Stud's David Porter-Mackrell was named the Employee of the Year at the 2024 Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards, sponsored by Godolphin, at Ascot Racecourse on Monday. The gala marked the 20th anniversary of the awards, which was attended by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal and hosted by ITV Racing's Ed Chamberlin. The event, celebrating the contribution of racing's workforce to British racing, saw a total of £128,500 in prize money handed out across six categories.

With Newsells the last 15 years, head stallion man Porter-Mackrell was nominated by the operation's general manager, Julian Dollar.

“David is a richly deserving recipient of the Employee of the Year Award and we are all delighted that somebody with such talent and passion has won,” said Nick Luck, Chair of the judging panel. “The judges were blown away by David during their interviews with him and were left in no doubt that he is an exceptional horseman with a gift for ensuring the stallions at Newsells Park Stud are in the best condition possible, both physically and mentally.”

He added, “It is also wonderful to see a member of stud staff win the top prize this evening. Our breeding industry is vital to the overall success of the sport we love and I hope that David's success will encourage more studs to nominate their employees for the 2025 awards.”

Joe Saumarez Smith, Chair of the British Horseracing Authority, commented, “This evening's ceremony was a wonderful occasion, made all the more special by the presence of Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal. I am sure she, like I, greatly enjoyed the privilege of spending time with those who do such wonderful work to ensure that thoroughbreds in Britain receive world-class care and attention and I would like to take the opportunity to thank them all.”

As a result of his win, Porter-Mackrell took home £10,000 of prize money, plus an additional £10,000 which will be shared among his colleagues at Newsells Park Stud. Earlier in the ceremony, Porter-Mackrell also won the Stud Staff Award, which itself carried a £5,000 prize along with a £5,000 for his colleagues.

The awards were organised by the British Horseracing Authority, in conjunction with media partners Racing Post and Racing TV.

 

The finalists for each category (with winners in bold):

David Nicholson Newcomer Award

Bethan Nelson (Warren Greatrex)

Molly Roberts (Ed Walker)

Hollie Wiltshire (Alan King)

 

Leadership

Cheryl Armstrong (Charlie Fellowes)

Andrew McIntyre (William Haggas)

Eamonn O'Donnabhain (Tom Lacey)

 

Rider/Racing Groom

Vicki Boyle-Atkins (Richard Phillips)

Lyndsey Bull (Ian Williams)

Alice Kettlewell (Karl Burke)

 

Stud Staff

Noel Challinor (Northmore Stud)

Jack Conroy (Chasemore Farm)

David Porter-Mackrell (Newsells Park Stud)

 

Dedication

Andrea Kelly (Tim Vaughan)

Linda Murphy (Rae Guest)

Brian Taylor (Luck Greayer Shipping)

 

Community Award

Joanne Flaherty (Chelmsford City Racecourse)

David Letts (Racing With Pride)

Lauren Semple (Police Scotland/Scottish Racing Academy)

 

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Ascot Racecourse Announces 2022 Financial Results

Edited Press Release

The turnover at Ascot Racecourse exceeded £100 million for the first time with a strong recovery from COVID-19 last season. The return to profit will allow for record prize money of £17 million set to be returned to the sport in 2023 and a voluntary increased loan repayment will help reduce debt ahead of schedule. The 2022 business summary highlighted several points of improvement:

  • A return to profit with a pre-tax profit of £3.4m after two difficult years of COVID-19 restrictions. This compares to a pre-COVID profit of £7.3m in 2019, highlighting significantly increased overheads and operating costs in the current economic climate.
  • Turnover rose by 161% to a record level of £101.4m with hospitality and admission revenues recovering strongly.
  • Attendance at Royal Ascot 2022 bounced back from COVID disruption to 273,465 with a total for the full year, excluding industry joint venture QIPCO British Champions Day, of 483,424.
  • Strong broadcast reach: World Pool turnover and international interest helped grow diverse revenue streams. Royal Ascot 2022 was broadcast into over 170 territories including NBC terrestrial coverage in America on the Saturday, reaching 2.5 million unique viewers, up 47% on 2021.
  • The loan agreement was renewed during the year and the term of the loan was extended by a minimum of three years.
  • £6m of the loan was repaid in 2022 (a £3m mandatory repayment and a voluntary partial early repayment of £3m) and the revolving credit facility of £5m, drawn down in March 2020, was repaid. Net debt at 31st December 2022 was £17.2m (2020 £25.4m).
  • The standby loan facility of £20m arranged through the Government CLBILS scheme remained undrawn during the year and matured at the end of April 2023. This was replaced by a revolving credit facility of £12.5m which remains undrawn.
  • Strong 2022 performance enabled record planned prize money in 2023 with £17m set to be on offer, an increase of £1.33m versus 2022. This excludes the £4.45m on offer at the industry joint venture fixture, QIPCO British Champions Day. Prize money at Royal Ascot 2023 was £9.52m, an increase of 10% over 2022.

Alastair Warwick, Chief Executive Officer at Ascot Racecourse, said:

“The figures for 2022 show that Ascot has recovered strongly from the impact of the pandemic. Last year's performance, headlined by record turnover, gave us the confidence to invest in the business this year, including reaching the £17m prize money mark for the first time.

“Having further reduced our debt, including through a voluntary additional repayment, we are in a good position to continue to improve both prize money and facilities.

“We are particularly encouraged to have seen strong attendance and hospitality metrics at Royal Ascot this year, the first under the reign of King Charles III. We had incredibly competitive, international fields and World Pool betting continues to be strong while viewing figures on ITV were excellent, including a peak of over a million every day and a ten year high for the final day.

“Their Majesties The King & Queen attended on all five days and it proved to be a very special occasion with Desert Hero carrying the Royal silks to victory, whilst Frankie Dettori signed off his Royal Ascot story with a ninth Gold Cup win.

“I would like to thank all our hard-working staff and our commercial and broadcast partners for their continued commitment to Ascot.”

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Dubai World Cup to Be Broadcast Worldwide

Forty broadcasters from all corners of the globe will provide live coverage of Saturday's $30.5-million G1 Dubai World Cup from Meydan Racecourse. In all, nine races will be contested, headlined by the $12-million Dubai World Cup, Sponsored by Emirates Airline.

Dubai Racing Club's Racecourse Media Group (RMG), and RMG's agency HBA Media, have secured some of the biggest names in sports broadcasting to televise and live stream the day's events, include Fox Sports in the U.S., ESPN/Star+ in South America, SuperSport in Africa, Viaplay in Europe, Dubai Media and BeIN in the Middle East, and for the first time ITV, the UK's biggest commercial broadcaster. The races can also be watched live on board selected airlines and cruise-lines via the Sport 24 network.

“The Dubai World Cup will once again receive huge exposure from broadcasters all around the world, and we are particularly delighted that ITV–the UK's biggest commercial broadcaster–will show live action from Meydan Racecourse for the first time,” Major General Dr Mohammed Essa Al Adhab, General Manager of Dubai Racing Club, said. “We look forward to welcoming all the broadcasters and their audiences, both new and old, to the event and hope they enjoy one of the great sporting spectacles.”

Broadcasters covering the Dubai World Cup fixture include:
• Asia and Australia: Green Channel, Fuji TV (Japan); TVB, Cable, Now TV, HKJC TV (Hong Kong); STC TV (Singapore); Wasu (China); Sony Network (Indian subcontinent); FanCode (India); Racing.com, Sky Thoroughbred Central, Entain, (Australia); and Trackside (New Zealand)
• Africa and Middle East: SuperSport (Africa), Dubai Racing Channel, Yas TV and Bein (MENA)
• Americas and Caribbean: Fox Sports, TVG, NYRA, NBC (US); HPI (Canada); ESPN / Star+ (South America and Caribbean); and SportsMax (Caribbean)
• Europe: Viaplay (pan Europe); ITV (UK); Racing TV (UK, Republic of Ireland); Virgin Media (Republic of Ireland); Equidia (France); SilkNet (Georgia); TJK TV (Turkey); Setanta (Eurasia and Baltics); WeDo (Germany, Switzerland and Austria); and Polsat (Poland)

Additionally, Trans World Sport, the leading global sports magazine programme, will offer the fixture added exposure, as will CNN, which is covering the race for its World Sport programme. Reuters will also distribute the event to their networks of news outlets.ok

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BC Announces Broadcast Partnership in U.K. and Ireland

Breeders' Cup has entered into multi-year agreements with ITV, Sky Sports Racing and Racing TV to continue their live broadcast coverage of the Breeders' Cup World Championships in the U.K. and Ireland.

“The Breeders' Cup World Championships is a premier international event and we're delighted that fans in the U.K. and Ireland will once again be able to watch the most talented horses, jockeys and trainers in the world compete during our two days of championship racing,” said Breeders' Cup President and CEO Drew Fleming. “ITV, Sky Sports Racing and Racing TV have been terrific partners and we are pleased to extend our agreements to provide world-class coverage of the Breeders' Cup to fans in the U.K. and Ireland.”

As part of the multi-year agreement, ITV will provide coverage of the two-day World Championships on ITV channels, including ITV, ITV3 and ITV4. Broadcast coverage times will be announced at a later date.

ITV will also work alongside Breeders' Cup to offer a consumer competition in which winners will receive a trip for two to the World Championships, including premium tickets and access to the Breeders' Cup, airfare, hotel accommodations and transportation.

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