Newmarket Racecourses are delighted to announce that Dubai’s race sponsorship portfolio will this year include the ‘Dubai £500,000 Cesarewitch’. 

The addition of the Cesarewitch is part of a new deal agreed with Dubai that secures the partnership with Newmarket Racecourses for a further five years until 2022.

In a double boost for the Cesarewitch, not only has it acquired a new sponsor but in 2018 it has also doubled in value making the race worth £500,000 and the joint most valuable Flat handicap in Europe. The significant increase in prize money is part of a wider stakeholder backed strategy to enhance the entire Flat staying programme in Great Britain.

Amy Starkey, Regional Director for Jockey Club Racecourses, East Region, said:

“We are delighted that in extending their partnership with Newmarket Racecourses for a further five years, Dubai have also added the Cesarewitch to their sponsorship portfolio.

“It is our aim that the Cesarewitch is eventually worth £1m and that it becomes one of the most anticipated and competitive races in the racing calendar. Our ambitions for the race are supported by the BHA Race Planning Committee, and step one towards achieving this target is the Dubai £500,000 Cesarewitch in 2018.

“With its field of 34 runners, starting in Cambridgeshire and finishing in Suffolk, the Cesarewitch has a heritage that few other races can match and in recent years it has become renowned for attracting quality and established performers from both codes, Flat and Jump. We are excited about taking the race to another level; for owners this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to compete for a prize of this size and in Dubai, Newmarket has a fantastic partner to help us meet our ambitions for the race.”

Dubai Future Champions Festival takes place on the Rowley Mile racecourse on Friday 12th and Saturday 13th October 2018, and features the Group 1 championship two-year-old race, the Darley Dewhurst Stakes, as well as the Dubai £500,000 Cesarewitch.

In addition to the Dubai Future Champions Festival, the partnership between Dubai and Newmarket Racecourses includes sponsorship of the Darley July Cup and initiatives designed to foster emerging young talent and interest in the racing industry, such as Dubai Future Champions Education Week in October, which aims to engage local children with the unique racing heritage of the area, and the Dalham Hall Brunch, available to 50 university students across the country, which takes place on the Saturday of the Dubai Future Champions Festival.