Post by degs74 on Mar 24, 2011 9:45:11 GMT 1
Relief spread quickly through the ranks of racing officialdom on Wednesday with news that Qatar are to back British Champions Day at Ascot in October as part of a sponsorship deal worth more than £5 million to the industry.
QIPCO, a private investment company owned by the Royal Family of Qatar, have agreed to be title sponsor for two years, not only of the big raceday itself, but also Newmarket’s 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas, plus Goodwood’s Sussex Stakes, a focal point of their ‘Glorious’ fixture in high summer.
The holding company, which has diverse interests, in real estate, construction, oil and gas, trading and finance, will also have its name attached to the British Champions Series, a marketing ploy to gather together the 35 top Flat races in Britain.
The much-derided series, as such, has no scoring system, no winner, and hence no trophy, being merely a branding exercise to identify the key races in the British calendar to the wider sporting public.
Since the announcement of British racing’s big day, there had been long-held fears that the sport would be left in the lurch, with enormous expense to meet at a critical time for those attempting to spread the industry’s finances to all corners. But, as they did for French racing several years back, the Qataris through the ruling Al-Thani family have come riding to the rescue.
QIPCO is a separate entity to the one sponsoring the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the impressive Arc Day card, with its sequence of Group One races, but the original source is the same, Qatar’s Royal Family. Sheikh Hamad, chief executive of the company, is one of six brothers, all nephews of HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar.
Sheikh Fahad, another of the brothers, has quickly put together a string of 40 horses in training in England and Ireland. He has already enjoyed considerable success with Newmarket trainer Sir Mark Prescott.
Karl Oliver, the chief executive of the British Champions series, said: “I’m very pleased that the series could attract new and substantial investment into British so quickly.” Oliver may have been expecting a longer timescale, but with the start of the Turf Flat season only days away, there will be many others in the industry, who might have been calling a photo-finish in the circumstances.
The issue of prize money in racing became a topic for discussion, not just sparked by Qatar’s welcome interest in Champions Day, but earlier at Godolphin’s press morning when manager Simon Crisford revealed that Frankie Dettori would not be riding in any races in Britain which did not meet the Horsemen’s Group’s tariffs.
Crisford made the point that it was not just about owners and trainers. He explained that it ultimately affected stable staff as the prize money filtered down through the system. “Most stable staff will be affected. We are talking about people being made redundant, if this is not sorted out.”
He went on to explain that Godolphin had the option of taking horses to France and other countries, if they could not find suitable races in Britain that complied with the tariffs.
In other news from Dubai, Twice Over will have to defy an unfavourable draw if he is to lift the Dubai World Cup at Meydan on Saturday night. The Henry Cecil-trained six year-old was only 10th from stall 11 last year, and fared even worse with his gate position this time in 12 of the 14 runners.
Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to owner Khalid Abdulla, said: "He's going to need to be lucky again, but he was drawn wide in the Maktoum Challenge so hopefully it is a good omen.
"I wouldn't have chosen it, but there are two things in racing that you can't affect - one is the draw and the other is the going."
QIPCO, a private investment company owned by the Royal Family of Qatar, have agreed to be title sponsor for two years, not only of the big raceday itself, but also Newmarket’s 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas, plus Goodwood’s Sussex Stakes, a focal point of their ‘Glorious’ fixture in high summer.
The holding company, which has diverse interests, in real estate, construction, oil and gas, trading and finance, will also have its name attached to the British Champions Series, a marketing ploy to gather together the 35 top Flat races in Britain.
The much-derided series, as such, has no scoring system, no winner, and hence no trophy, being merely a branding exercise to identify the key races in the British calendar to the wider sporting public.
Since the announcement of British racing’s big day, there had been long-held fears that the sport would be left in the lurch, with enormous expense to meet at a critical time for those attempting to spread the industry’s finances to all corners. But, as they did for French racing several years back, the Qataris through the ruling Al-Thani family have come riding to the rescue.
QIPCO is a separate entity to the one sponsoring the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the impressive Arc Day card, with its sequence of Group One races, but the original source is the same, Qatar’s Royal Family. Sheikh Hamad, chief executive of the company, is one of six brothers, all nephews of HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar.
Sheikh Fahad, another of the brothers, has quickly put together a string of 40 horses in training in England and Ireland. He has already enjoyed considerable success with Newmarket trainer Sir Mark Prescott.
Karl Oliver, the chief executive of the British Champions series, said: “I’m very pleased that the series could attract new and substantial investment into British so quickly.” Oliver may have been expecting a longer timescale, but with the start of the Turf Flat season only days away, there will be many others in the industry, who might have been calling a photo-finish in the circumstances.
The issue of prize money in racing became a topic for discussion, not just sparked by Qatar’s welcome interest in Champions Day, but earlier at Godolphin’s press morning when manager Simon Crisford revealed that Frankie Dettori would not be riding in any races in Britain which did not meet the Horsemen’s Group’s tariffs.
Crisford made the point that it was not just about owners and trainers. He explained that it ultimately affected stable staff as the prize money filtered down through the system. “Most stable staff will be affected. We are talking about people being made redundant, if this is not sorted out.”
He went on to explain that Godolphin had the option of taking horses to France and other countries, if they could not find suitable races in Britain that complied with the tariffs.
In other news from Dubai, Twice Over will have to defy an unfavourable draw if he is to lift the Dubai World Cup at Meydan on Saturday night. The Henry Cecil-trained six year-old was only 10th from stall 11 last year, and fared even worse with his gate position this time in 12 of the 14 runners.
Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to owner Khalid Abdulla, said: "He's going to need to be lucky again, but he was drawn wide in the Maktoum Challenge so hopefully it is a good omen.
"I wouldn't have chosen it, but there are two things in racing that you can't affect - one is the draw and the other is the going."
