William Hill takes naming rights to St Leger Festival

UK bookmaker William Hill has agreed a deal to sponsor horse racing’s St Leger Festival.

The agreement will run for three years, from 2017 to 2019. William Hill will support all four days of the festival, starting with this year’s event, which will run from September 13-16.

The deal includes the St Leger Stakes, the world’s oldest classic horse race, as well as the opening-day Handicap, the May Hill Stakes on Ladies’ Day, the Mallard Stakes on Gentleman’s Day and the Portland Stakes on the final day.

William Hill will take naming rights to these races, with the four-day festival now to be known as The William Hill St Leger Festival.

Last year the St Leger Festival was attended by more than 60,000 racegoers.

“We aim to have a real and long-term partnership with all our sponsors and we look forward to integrating William Hill’s world-renowned brand into our feature event,” Tim Banfield, the executive director of Doncaster Racecourse, said. “The team here are working hard on preparations for this year’s William Hill St Leger Festival and we are set on delivering another fantastic four days of racing.”