Internet betting exchange, Betfair, agreed a new five year deal to sponsor the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.
Under the deal, the three-day late July meeting due to be rebranded as "Betfair Weekend". The track's most valuable steeplechase, run as the First Commercial Chase until the credit crunch forced David Johnson, the leading jumps owner, to withdraw his support, will now become the Betfair Ascot Chase, and is likely to form part of the Betfair Million bonus scheme from next season.
The deal, which will raise the value of the race to a minimum of £1 million for the first time, follows two seasons in which the Royal racecourse has endured the embarrassment of running its premier event without a sponsor.
In a statement to the press,Stephen Burn, Betfair's director of horse racing, said: "We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with Ascot on this ground-breaking agreement, especially as it will take us up to and beyond the course's historic tercentenary in 2011. Betfair's first market was the Oaks in 2000, when 36 people had a bet. It is extraordinary that less than 10 years later we are involved in a deal like this."
Betfair is now the second biggest sponsor in racing after the Tote.
