First Classics Of The Season: Newmarket Announces Schedule For Four-Day QIPCO Guineas Festival

A finalised order of running, as well as sponsorship and prize-money for next week’s rescheduled QIPCO Guineas Festival, has been announced today by Newmarket Racecourses.

Newmarket Racecourses can now confirm details of what will be a season-opening four-day QIPCO Guineas Festival worth more than £1 million in prize money, beginning on Thursday, June 4. The meeting, the first four-day fixture at the Home of Horseracing since 2003, will also mark the beginning of this year’s QIPCO British Champions Series.

QIPCO will remain the meeting’s generous overarching sponsor, as well as for the QIPCO 2000 Guineas and QIPCO 1000 Guineas, the first Classics of the belated British season and first races in the Mile and Fillies & Mares divisions of British Champions Series, which will be staged on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

Joining QIPCO as a sponsor at the meeting will be Betfair, thanks to a Group-wide deal with The Jockey Club agreed prior to the outbreak of the pandemic. Betfair will sponsor all other races on the Saturday and Sunday of the meeting, along with additional contributions to prize money made by the European Breeders Fund (EBF), for which Newmarket Racecourses is most grateful.

The first two days of the meeting, meanwhile, will be sponsored by Betway, who would ordinarily have supported The Spring Meeting at the Rowley Mile in late May.

Friday’s card will also feature the Coronation Cup, moved from fellow Jockey Club Racecourses venue Epsom this year. The Group 1 contest over 1m4f will be sponsored for the first time by Sam Haggas’s Hurworth Bloodstock.

The race will also be the first of the QIPCO British Champions Series, featuring as part of the Middle Distance category.

Amy Starkey, Regional Director of The Jockey Club’s East Region, said: “We are delighted that we have been able to reschedule the QIPCO Guineas Festival and are incredibly grateful for the support we have received from stakeholders across the industry in putting together four days of fantastic racing.

“Key to our ability to do this has been the backing of our sponsors, and so we thank QIPCO, Betfair, Betway, Hurworth Bloodstock and the EBF for working with us so constructively in what have been remarkable circumstances to deliver a programme of races that are vital in helping the industry get back on its feet.

“These four days will not replicate the thrill of the QIPCO Guineas Festival as we know it, because without the owners and racegoers who create the atmosphere, things will not be the same. However, we hope that the racing community will enjoy the action from home and be buoyed by the return of the sport we love at its spiritual home.

“Our team is working tirelessly to ensure the Rowley Mile is a safe place for all those involved in delivering these four days and we once again thank all stakeholders for their understanding and assistance in our work towards this goal.”

David Redvers added: “We are so thrilled to be back racing again and both delighted as well as hugely relieved to have the opportunity of sponsoring the first two Classics of the season in the QIPCO 2000 and 1000 Guineas once again.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Newmarket and British Champions Series for all of their efforts in delivering the new-look four-day QIPCO Guineas Festival. I would also like to thank the BHA Resumption of Racing team, who have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to get the show back on the road.

“Sheikh Fahad and his brothers are incredibly proud that this is our tenth year of sponsorship of both the Guineas and British Champions Series. It is hard to believe that Frankel was ten years ago; let’s hope we witness another Champion entering the fray next weekend.”

Betfair’s Director of Brand, Stephen Mault, commented: “Our commitment to horseracing is further strengthened by this three-year agreement, which supports The Jockey Club and the respective racecourses with whom we have built up such strong and lasting relationships.

“The jewel in our sponsorship crown is the Betfair Chase but the addition of 15 races at the QIPCO Guineas Festival at Newmarket and the Group 1 Sprint Cup at Haydock marks our biggest Flat sponsorship since the King George at Ascot. Wi-Fi access and digital assets, along with our on-course activations mean we can give racegoers a uniquely Betfair experience at some of the country’s premier tracks and that is a challenge which we relish.”

Hurworth Bloodstock’s Sam Haggas said: “It is an honour to have the opportunity to sponsor such a prestigious and historic race as the Coronation Cup. Racing has been my life so far, and it is thrilling to play a small part in the resumption of the sport. Moreover, looking at the entries, this year’s renewal of the Coronation Cup has the potential to be a fantastic race.”

QIPCO GUINEAS FESTIVAL – KEY RACES:

Friday (ITV4)

2.25 Group 3 Betway Abernant Stakes

3.00 Listed Betway Paradise Stakes

3.35 Group 1 Hurworth Bloodstock Coronation Cup

Saturday (ITV)

1.50 Group 3 Betfair Backs Racing Welfare Palace House Stakes

2.25 Group 2 Betfair Dahlia Stakes

3.00 Listed Betfair Exchange Free Bet Streak Newmarket Stakes

3.35 Group 1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas

Sunday (ITV)

1.50 Listed Betfair Exchange Buckhound Stakes