Unibet return to sponsor two-day Hungerford Meeting at Newbury Racecourse
Unibet will once again support Newbury Racecourse's two-day behind closed doors fixture on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 August. With Saturday due to be broadcast on ITV1 and Sunday on ITV4, Unibet are sponsoring a total of 16 races across the weekend, including the Group 2 Unibet Hungerford Stakes for which a competitive field of ten has been declared.
The Group 2 race was moved to the seven-furlong straight course in 2002 and has seen some of the best sprinters of recent years take part, with winners including Lethal Force, as well as some great milers: Paco Boy and Excelebration.
Amongst the declarations for this year’s running is last year’s winner, Glorious Journey, the current favourite Dream of Dreams and the Roger Varian-trained Pierre Lapin, winner of the Group 2 Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef at Newbury last season.
Roger Varian said: “We’re looking forward to bringing Pierre Lapin back to Newbury, where I think the flat track will once again suit him. We are seeing signs at home that he’s coming back to himself and can put two poor runs this season behind him."
"He is just starting flourish and come to himself and the return to Newbury will spark a better performance. I definitely haven’t lost faith in the horse and would love to see him bounce back.”
Ed Nicholson is head of the Kindred Group: “As Unibet approach 1,000 sponsored races since our UK launch in 2013, we are delighted to headline Unibet Hungerford Day for a second consecutive year."
“As well as the Group 2 Unibet Hungerford Stakes, Unibet are sponsoring 5 other races on the Saturday card and 9 races on the Sunday. Glorious Journey aims to become only the second horse to win back to back wins in the race and is currently 7/1 fourth favourite while both Threat (5/1) and Pierre Lapin (9/1) are talented horses on recovery missions. Dream of Dreams heads the Unibet market at 5/2.”
Julian Thick is Chief Executive of Newbury Racecourse: “We are incredibly grateful to Unibet and all of our sponsors for their continued support of this raceday during this challenging time. We are delighted to be able to welcome back owners to our purpose-built facility this weekend for the first time and our thanks must go to Irish Thoroughbred Marketing for their support.
“This is always a fascinating meeting with some competitive Group and Listed races across the two days, alongside a range of handicaps and maidens that often throw up some exciting horses. You only have to look to last year to find Quadrilateral, who went on to win a Group 1 at Newmarket at the end of the season.”
The current going is Good to Soft, Good in places.
Latest betting for The Unibet Hungerford Stakes:
5/2 Dream of Dreams, 5/1 Threat, 11/2 Surf Dancer, 7/1 Glorious Journey, 9/1 Pierre Lapin, 10/1 Namos, Symbolize, 11/1 Breathtaking Look, 22/1 History Writer, 33/1 Lincoln Bright.
The cards:
