International boost for AW series
Last Updated: 30/10/14 10:04pm
Officials behind the All-Weather Championships hope to continue to build the series to one day go some way towards emulating the success of meetings such as the Breeders' Cup.
The second championships launched at Lingfield on Thursday, and will culminate in the £1million Finals Day back at the Surrey venue on Good Friday next year, shown for the first time on Channel 4.
As well as Fast-Track Qualifiers at the five British all-weather courses - Lingfield Park, Southwell and Wolverhampton run by Arena Racing Company plus Chelmsford City and Kempton Park - for the first time such qualifiers will be at Dundalk in Ireland and Cagnes-Sur-Mer and Deauville in France, in a move to make the series more international.
Winners of those races are guaranteed a spot on the Good Friday card.
Horses who do not win a fast-track race must run a minimum of three times during the championships in Britain or, in a new initiative, one of the three runs can now take place on Meydan's dirt surface in Dubai or on the all-weather at Dundalk, Cagnes-Sur-Mer, Chantilly and Deauville.
ARC managing director Tony Kelly said: "I think all-weather racing has come a long way in 25 years - a lot of the world's championships are run on a synthetic or dirt surface, such as this weekend's Breeders' Cup in America. The UK has not anything to rival that and it really is our ambition to put the All-Weather Championships up there with those events and on a world stage.
"We achieved more than we thought in year one of the All-Weather Championships and so we want to go even further forward this season."