SANDOWN PARK UNVEILS THE 'BET365 ULTIMATE CELEBRATION OF BRITISH HORSERACING'
02/02/2012
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Sandown Park today announced that its two-day fixture on Friday 27th and Saturday 28th April, featuring the bet365 Gold Cup, will be called the bet365 Ultimate Celebration of British Horseracing from 2012 as part of a commitment to investing in the meeting’s success by the course, its parent company Jockey Club Racecourses and its long-term sponsor, bet365.
Saturday’s bet365 Ultimate Celebration will continue as a mixed card, featuring four Jump and four Flat races. It will mark the official finale of the Jump season, celebrating the fine Jumps season that has gone before, with a mouthwatering Parade of Champions in prospect and the End of Season Jumps Awards, while also offering a taste of what is to come during the flat season in 2012. It will follow an exciting day’s Flat racing at the Esher course the previous day.
Organisers are planning to showcase all aspects of Britain’s second biggest spectator sport during the meeting, with further details revealed in due course. With equine stars racing and parading, both codes of the sport on display on the same day and a host of other features planned that bring an immediate injection to the fixture, Sandown Park will encourage racing fans to make bet365 Ultimate Celebration the time to bring family, friends or colleagues to ‘show off’ their sport.
When asked why they attended last year, racegoers praised a range of the components that combine to make the fixture unique in the British racing calendar, including the mix of Jumps and Flat racing, the bet365 Gold Cup Chase feature, the Parade of Champions, the End of Season Jumps awards and the overall entertainment on offer.
Sandown Park has listened to this customer feedback when creating the bet365 Ultimate Celebration, supported by Jockey Club Racecourses and bet365, as well as other external parties like Racing for Change, with a commitment to hosting a Mixed card on the second day for the foreseeable future. Building on this foundation, support from the racing community and creative marketing promotion can see the fixture grow in years to come.
David Mackinnon, Managing Director of Sandown Park commented, “This important fixture has seen many positive developments in recent years, and we’re very excited about what lies ahead as the bet365 Ultimate Celebration. It will be a fantastic celebration of our sport, officially closing the Jumps season and looking ahead to the biggest Flat races to come in 2012. Our customers are telling us that they enjoy the Mixed card on the Saturday. As well as offering top class racing that day, it’s great to get the Jumps and Flat jockeys, owners and trainers together, and it is a must-attend for any racing fan. It will follow what promises to be a tremendous Cheltenham Festival and John Smith’s Grand National Meeting, and indeed some of the equine stars from these meetings will be with us at Sandown Park on the day.”
Paul Fisher, Group Managing Director of Jockey Club Racecourses added, “Jockey Club Racecourses is committed to investing in the success of the bet365 Ultimate Celebration at Sandown Park. It’s a fantastic racecourse and great to be working with bet365 for a further three years to support the growth of this fixture. The proposition is now totally unique within racing and can be a true celebration of a superb Jumps season and all that lies ahead on the Flat. With hard work, some creativity and racing getting behind the fixture, we look forward to it building to the next level in 2012.”
Denise Coates, Joint Chief Executive of the sponsor, bet365 commented, “The bet365 Ultimate Celebration of British Horseracing is a major racemeeting with which bet365 are proud to be involved and an event that we feel has grown in prestige in recent times. Having worked with Sandown Park on the new concept, celebrating the very best that British Horseracing has to offer, we are looking forward to the two days at the end of April as well as future years of bet365 involvement.”
AP McCoy, ambassador for the 2011-12 Jumps Season at Sandown Park added, “I always enjoy the bet365 Ultimate Celebration as it’s such a unique day with the mix of the Jump and Flat racing – one of the few times of the year where I find myself sharing the weighing room with the likes of Frankie Dettori and Ryan Moore! There is always a great atmosphere at Sandown Park and a great way to round off the season. I have been lucky enough to collect the trophy for Champion Jockey at the awards ceremony that Sandown Park stage for a number of years now, and Sandown Park does a great job of hosting these awards and attracting some of the top horses to parade beforehand.”
The bet365 Ultimate Celebration of British Horseracing moves back to its traditional position in the calendar in 2012 after last year’s fixture was staged during the Easter holiday period to ensure a three-week gap was maintained between the Cheltenham Festival and the John Smith’s Grand National Meeting at Aintree. For tickets or information please contact 01372 47 00 47 or visit www.sandown.co.uk.
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