New category for all-weather championships
Last Updated: 22/10/14 12:20pm
A new Three-Year-Old Sprint category has been added to the second all-weather championships season, which starts at Lingfield on October 30.
Three-Year-Old Sprint is the seventh category, joining the existing divisions of Three-Year-Old, Sprint, Mile, Marathon, Fillies & Mares, and Middle Distance.
Arena Racing Company's director of racing Jim Allen said: ``The creation of the new Three-Year-Old Sprint category arose out of consultation with horsemen and the British Horseracing Authority.
``We hope its inclusion will further support the sprint programme in Great Britain and give horses more opportunities to race throughout the winter months.''
A new betting partner, Unibet, will back the Three-Year-Old Sprint Championship plus the Sprint Championship. The three other betting partners, Coral, Ladbrokes and 32Red, were involved in the first All-Weather Championships season and continue their association this time.
Coral supports the Middle Distance Championship, while Ladbrokes sponsors the Mile Championship and 32Red backs three Championship categories - Three-Year-Old, Fillies & Mares and Marathon.
Britain's five all-weather courses - Lingfield, Southwell and Wolverhampton, which are owned by ARC, plus Chelmsford City and Kempton - are all involved in the championships.
George Baker, one of the leading jockeys during the first all-weather championships with 57 winners, is the new all-weather ambassador.
``The all-weather has allowed me to progress as a jockey and I will always be grateful for the opportunities it gave me to gain valuable experience,'' he said.
``The first all-weather championships raised the profile of all-weather racing considerably and also boosted prize money levels.''