£4.5m Champions Weekend Set For 2014
The climax to the British Flat racing season will take another leap forward next year with the alignment of QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot and Dubai Future Champions Day at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile to create a £4.5 million ‘Champions Weekend’, featuring six Group 1 races on Friday 17th and Saturday 18th October 2014.
The new ‘Champions Weekend’, with both days shown live on Channel 4, will include the world’s highest-rated race from last year, the QIPCO Champion Stakes on QIPCO British Champions Day, and the world’s highest-rated two-year-old race, the Dubai Dewhurst Stakes, the centrepiece of Dubai Future Champions Day.
Amy Starkey, east regional director for Jockey Club Racecourses, responsible for the running of Newmarket Racecourses, said: ‘I’m very pleased that Dubai Future Champions Day will increase its status as Europe’s two-year-old championship day by featuring three Group 1 races for the first time in 2014 and as part of a superb two-day climax to the premier Flat racing season.’
Starkey added: ‘We have made this move in the best interests of British racing, working with multiple interested parties and listening to feedback from trainers who asked us to help resolve the outstanding issues with the two-year-old Pattern. Staging an additional fixture in the Saturday slot will see a further significant injection of prize money at Newmarket and we are very grateful for Dubai ‘s continued and highly valued support on Dubai Future Champions Day.’
Rod Street, chief executive of British Champions Limited,said: ‘One of the main underlying reasons for creating British Champions Day was to maintain and protect Britain’s status as a world-leading Flat racing nation and the upgrade to the QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes and the injection of another £350,00 in prize money to the day this October represent fantastic progress in only year three. We aspire to make ours the best Flat race day in the world and the alignment with Dubai Future Champions Day in 2014 presents the perfect opportunity to build something even bigger than that.’
Ruth Quinn, director of Racing for the British Horseracing Authority, commented: ‘Today’s announcement represents a significant boost for British Racing, and is also a positive development for the sport across Europe.Our end of season Flat programme has taken another major step forward, and we are delighted that the European Pattern Committee supports Britain’s further ambitions in this regard.’
