£10 MILLION SOVEREIGN SERIES TO TRANSFORM BRITISH FLAT RACING
Seven top courses to launch major new initiative
Britain’s leading racecourses are to launch a landmark £10 million flat racing competition to crown the champion British racehorse which will extend the appeal of racing to a wider mainstream audience, it was announced today at an event at BAFTA headquarters in London.
The Sovereign Series is a groundbreaking initiative which will 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 £5 million, a further £5 million per annum will be added to the Series, culminating in a £2 million prize for the overall winner. An extra £3 million has also been committed to the marketing, promotion and production of The Series both on and off the course, which will take race goers and viewers right to the heart of the action.
Simon Bazalgette, Executive Chairman of Racing UK and Chief Executive designate of The Jockey Club said:
“Horseracing is one of Britain’s great sports but is faced with increasing competition from other sports and leisure activities, so Racing needs to evolve and appeal to a wider audience. We believe the Sovereign Series will capture the imagination of a new generation of sports fans who have never before been interested in Racing.”
“By linking Britain’s best flat races into a season-long competition, and transforming the viewer experience both on and off the course, the Sovereign Series will strengthen consumer interest in the sport and create a new proposition for broadcasters and sponsors.”
“Our vision is that in 5 years The Sovereign Series will have become established as a major sports competition on the British calendar alongside Wimbledon, The Open and other similar events.”
Charles Barnett, Chief executive of Ascot said: “The Sovereign Series is an exciting initiative both in terms of widening public awareness of the best that Flat Racing has to offer and as a new way of looking at the media rights of the racecourses involved. It is essential that British Racing continues to identify ways in which it can engage further with the millions of people who have already shown an appetite to come racing so that we may convert them into regular followers of the sport. To this end we will continue to work with the British Horseracing Authority and other parties exploring ways of making racing more accessible.”
Nic Coward, Chief Executive of the BHA said: “The Sovereign Series is a great initiative by leading racecourses, working together to showcase the sport in a new and exciting way. British racing is the best in the world, with tremendous strength and depth, and the Series is a tremendous response from the sport to the opportunities and challenges highlighted in the comprehensive Fixture List Review we published earlier this year."
