Racing Gets New £10m Series
Britain’s leading racecourses are to launch a landmark £10m flat racing competition, the Sovereign Series, which will crown the champion British racehorse.
The Sovereign Series is designed to broaden consumer interest in the sport by linking 10 of the most prestigious races in the racing calendar into a major new competition.
The Series will run for an initial three years and will begin in May 2010 with new terrestrial broadcast and commercial agreements planned.
The Series will feature 10 of the leading Group 1 races, starting with the Stan James 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket and culminating with the Emirates Airline Champion Stakes again at Newmarket in October.
The Juddmonte Lockinge Stakes at Newbury, The Derby, the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, the Coral Eclipse at Sandown, Ascot’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, the BGC Sussex Stakes at Goodwood, the Juddmonte International at York and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot complete the line up.
The Sovereign Series has been created with the full support of the British Horseracing Authority, and has received industry-wide backing from owners, trainers and jockeys, as well as all major stakeholders.
Racing UK, the media rights company representing the courses, will be promoting and managing the collective broadcast and multimedia rights.
In addition to the existing prize money of just over £5m, a further £5m per annum will be added to the Series, culminating in a £2m prize for the overall winner. An extra £3m has also been committed to the marketing, promotion and production of the Series both on and off the course.
