National Express, the UK's largest coach operator, has signed a three-year agreement as 'Official Coach and Bus Partner' of The Jockey Club.

As the largest commercial group in British horseracing with 15 racecourses and one of the UK’s leading leisure companies, The Jockey Club is well known for staging iconic events around the country, including the Cheltenham Festival and Grand National.

The partnership will provide dedicated National Express services from across the UK direct to all major events in The Jockey Club’s racing calendar. The new services will provide customers with drop off and pick up from locations closer to and more convenient for the racecourses than any other coach operator.

Both The Jockey Club and National Express will be offering travel tickets and combined travel & racing packages to major events across web, mobile and all other sales channels.

John Boughton, Commercial Director for National Express Coach, said:

“Alongside our UK coach network, we have a strong track record of providing coach travel to festivals and events across the UK. In 2017, we carried hundreds of thousands of passengers to iconic sporting and music events including Glastonbury Festival, The FA Cup Final at Wembley, 6 Nations at Twickenham and the Champions League Final in Cardiff.

“We’re thrilled to be working with The Jockey Club to bring great value, comfortable and convenient services from destinations across the UK to the biggest events in the race going calendar.”

Paul Fisher, Chief Executive of Jockey Club Racecourses, said:

“We’re delighted to be working with National Express as our Official Coach and Bus partner from 2018. This is the first arrangement of its kind for The Jockey Club and it’s fantastic to welcome another new partner into our sport.

“We know from their existing partnerships in sport and entertainment that they will offer excellent value and travel for the millions of people who attend our racing and leisure events throughout the year.”