Newmarket Racecourses and bet365 agree three-year extension to Craven Meeting sponsorship deal

• bet365 to sponsor Home Of Horseracing’s opening fixture until 2022
• World’s largest online betting company earlier increased its support for the Moet & Chandon July Festival with introduction of £120,000 bet365 Trophy

15th April 2019 - On the eve of the 2019 bet365 Craven Meeting, Newmarket Racecourses and bet365 are delighted to announce an extension to their deal that will see the world’s largest online betting company continue to sponsor the season-opening spectacular for the next three years.

The bet365 Craven Meeting represents not only the beginning of Newmarket’s 39-meeting fixture list but also the return in earnest of top quality Flat racing, as demonstrated last year when subsequent Investec Derby hero Masar landed the bet365 Craven Stakes. It was a race that also featured Roaring Lion, who would go on to be named Cartier Horse of the Year following a string of Group 1 successes.

Other recent winners of the bet365 Craven Stakes include star names such as Delegator, Toronado and Toormore and the race looks set to provide vital QIPCO 2000 Guineas clues once again this year, a little over a fortnight before the first Classic of the season.

Masar is not the only Derby winner to emerge from the meeting in recent seasons, with Golden Horn having taken the Listed bet365 Fielden Stakes in 2015 en route to European domination, just two years after French Classic scorer Intello won it in 2013.

Ever since reverting to its three-day format, the bet365 Craven Meeting has proved a huge hit with racegoers and, falling as it does in the Easter holidays in 2019, families are preparing to enjoy all of the fantastic racing and entertainment that will be on offer.


Amy Starkey, Regional Director of The Jockey Club, East Region, said:

“We are delighted to have agreed an extended deal with bet365 ahead of what is sure to be another fantastic curtain raiser to the 2019 season at the Home of Horseracing.

“bet365 have long been valued supporters of Newmarket Racecourses and we are excited to discover which star names will emerge at bet365 Craven Meetings in the seasons to come.”

Pat Cooney, Head of Racing PR at bet365, said:

“We are delighted to continue our support of the Craven Meeting for a further three years, maintaining our close relationship with Newmarket Racecourses.

“Our association with this meeting goes back many years and we are looking forward to welcoming in the new Flat season at the Home of Horseracing.”


Confirmation of the extension of bet365’s sponsorship of the Craven Meeting comes after it was announced earlier in the year that, thanks to additional support from bet365, the second day of the Moet & Chandon July Festival will this year open with the bet365 Trophy, a 1m6f open handicap worth £120,000. The race replaces a 0-105 rated handicap worth £50,000.