SPONSORS, AND WHAT THEY TAKE FROM THE SPORT.

​1957 was a significant year for horse racing. Indeed I would go as far as to claim it is a year that should be celebrated with a race named after the year. The 1957 – chase, hurdle or flat race – might even become a notable race to win. But that is beside the point. Or at least my point, as I doubt many will agree with me.
It was in 1957 that Colonel W.H. Whitbread, a man who loved National Hunt, decided the best way to market his brewery would be to sponsor a horse race and on April 27th at Sandown the Whitbread Gold Cup was born, starting a quiet revolution within the sport that now runs at full bore. Who would have thought that such a revolutionary concept would lead to every major race outside of Royal Ascot bearing a sponsors’ name, with many old established titles disappearing. Incidentally, that first sponsored race was won by Much Obliged, as racing has been ever since for the prize money given by succeeding sponsors.
The following year Hennessey took on the idea and in the November of the same year Mandarin won, allowing the Hennessey family to pocket the majority of their sponsorship money.
Of all the sponsored races since 1957 the loss of the Whitbread and Hennessey is the most keenly felt, more so than any sponsor of the Grand National. In our memories the Whitbread remains on the calendar, with the handicap in April at Sandown still considered to be ‘that race that used to be the Whitbread’, even if it has declined in prestige and quality over the years. The Hennessey, or the Ladbroke Trophy as it now is, has held its prestige and will continue to do so, being considered the fourth or fifth top steeplechase of the season. Because of its position in the calendar I doubt if the Ladbroke Trophy will suffer in prestige as the old Whitbread has, though for perhaps a decade people will perhaps continue to think Hennessey rather than Ladbroke come the start of each new season.
As much as I decry, and mourn, the loss of ‘proper’ names for our big races, and wonder how they are referred to by racecourse executives when between sponsors – do they even exist? – only a fool would not extend the hand of friendship to those companies who could go to other sports but choose to market their brands through the sponsorship of racing.
The point I am trying to make is that our sport has a history, virtually all of it documented by talented writers through the centuries, that extends back to the 1700’s. What other sport can challenge such a lineage? To commemorate the Centenary of the formation of the National Hunt Committee in 1866 a history of the sport was commissioned to be written by four of the great writers of the sport – Michael Seth-Smith, Peter Willett, Roger Mortimer and John Lawrence. It is a great work of literature; a book everyone with an interest in National Hunt should have at least read if not actually own a copy.
It reads a bit like the Bible. In the beginning there was the Grand National. And that was it for a long while. Then the Cheltenham Gold Cup was begat, followed by the National Hunt Festival (only 3 days back then) and then the long shadow of commercialisation became the dominant force within the sport, with even the classics falling under the spell of companies great and small. Not that it matters about the classics, not really. Does anyone remember who sponsored the Grand National in 1975? Or do we go to Epsom to watch the Derby or the Investec Derby? What bothers me is that the history of the minor big races, the handicaps especially, becomes fragmented when sponsors demand that their name is more important than the name of the race they are sponsoring. We lost the Stewards Cup for a year, if you remember. We also lost the Bula Hurdle due to the arrogance of the betting company that hijacked the race. It was the Bula; it was a special race dedicated to a special horse. Why it couldn’t be the Paddy Power Bula Hurdle defeats me. So the Bula was lost, as in time was the Paddy Power, as in time the present sponsors name will go.
Beware Royal Ascot! Given the way the Cheltenham Festival has caved in to commercialisation we could lose a whole host of historic names. The Wokingham could become the Paddy Power Sprint. The Royal Hunt Cup the Bet 366 (or whatever their name is) Great Big Handicap. Once upon a time Lord Mildmay was commemorated at Cheltenham. There was a Grand Annual, the oldest race at the Festival. Once there was the Neptune and now it is the Ballymore. The World Hurdle has now reverted back to the Stayers Hurdle, as if the name of the premier staying hurdle is nothing but an irrelevance.
The history of our sport will forever become more and more confused. For historians it will be a minefield of easily made error. When a second volume of the ‘History of Steeplechasing’ is commissioned it will be notable for the separate index it will need to list all the different sponsors individual races have had over the decades. In John Lawrence’s day there was the Massey-Ferguson Gold Cup and the Mackeson. Since his day those two races alone have had numerous different names, with not one of them giving a hint as to what the race name would be if it were not sponsored. And that, I believe, does the sport a disservice.