Ladbrokes backs Down Royal Racecourse with three year sponsorship deal

Ladbrokes has been unveiled as the new sponsor of Down Royals November Festival of Racing in a three-year partnership

The six figure deal, the largest in Down Royal’s history, will see the bookmaker take on title sponsorship of the first Grade 1 Champion Chase of the National Hunt season, with a prize fund of €140,000.

The long-established two-day Festival - staged on November 1st and 2nd - is the highlight of the racing calendar at Down Royal and has an exceptional role of honour including great chasers such as Kauto Star, Beef or Salmon, The Listener, Looks Like Trouble, Florida Pearl and Don Cossack.

Friday 1st November will see the richest hurdle race in Northern Ireland take place - The WKD Hurdle - while the Ladbrokes Grade 1 Champion Chase will run on Saturday 2nd.

Emma Meehan, chief executive of Down Royal Racecourse, said: “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 twelve percent year-on-year, we are anticipating a crowd of over 10,000 over the two days.”

Nicola McGeady, Ladbrokes Head of PR, said: “Ladbrokes has a long and proud association with top-class horse racing and we are thrilled to be embarking on this exciting new sponsorship of the November Festival of Racing at Down Royal.”