William Hill has signed a three-year deal with Arena Racing Company (ARC) in terms of which it will sponsor the St Leger Festival at Doncaster, including the world’s oldest classic race.
William Hill’s deal with ARC will see it sponsor the Group 1 St Leger Stakes, worth £700,000 this year, as well as a feature race each day of the four-day festival which will now be known as the William Hill St Leger Festival and will run from Wednesday, 13th to Saturday, 16th September 2017.
William Hill will also sponsor the following races –
- The William Hill Handicap on the opening day of the Festival (Wednesday);
- The William Hill May Hill Stakes on Ladies’ Day (Thursday);
- The William Hill Mallard Stakes on Gentlemen’s Day (Friday); and
- The William Hill Portland Stakes on the finale, as well as the William Hill St Leger Stakes on the final day (Saturday).
The St Leger Festival was attended by more than 60,000 racegoers in 2016. This year, terrestrial coverage of the William Hill St Leger Stakes day will be on the ITV1 channel with coverage on ITV4 for Ladies’ Day and Gentlemen’s Day.
William Hill is also the sponsor of the Ayr Gold Cup, Great St. Wilfrid at Ripon and Scottish Super Sprint at Musselburgh.
Philip Bowcock, CEO at William Hill, commented on the sponsorship deal by saying that William Hill is one of the best known brands in betting with a long history of horseracing sponsorship. He added that they are delighted to sponsor the oldest classic and will work closely with ARC to continue to build the profile and popularity of the William Hill St Leger Festival.
