Cheltenham Festival

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Cheltenham loses sponsor of bonusprint.com Gold Cup
09/05/05

Cheltenham announces today that one of the course's long-standing sponsorships is coming to an end, with George Ward's Grunwick Group withdrawing backing for the bonusprint.com Gold Cup.

The £110,000 bonusprint.com Gold Cup, the main highlight of the two-day December meeting, has been supported by Grunwick since 1992 and, prior to last year, was called the Tripleprint Gold Cup.

The prestigious handicap chase over two miles and five furlongs was won by Monkerhostin from 12 rivals last year, while other good horses to have won the bonusprint.com Gold Cup include the Nicky Henderson-trained pair Iris Royal (2003) and Fondmort (2002), Legal Right (1999), Addington Boy (1996) and Dublin Flyer (1994).

Champion trainer Martin Pipe has sent out two scorers, Northern Starlight (1998) and Fragrant Dawn (1993), during the period, while local trainer Sue Knock succeeded with Senor El Betrutti in 1997 and Go Roger Go, from Edward O'Grady's stable, provided an Irish winner in 2000.

Nigel Payne, Sponsorship Manager for the Grunwick Group, commented today: "With the fast-growing digital print market, the company has decided to direct marketing spend towards the Internet to promote bonusprint.com

"George Ward is sad to end his association with Cheltenham's December meeting because it has been one of the most successful sponsorships for the company over the years."

Cheltenham is now seeking a new sponsor for the high-profile handicap chase which is one of the course's top races of the season.

Peter McNeile, Cheltenham's Commercial Manager, said today: "Cheltenham has greatly valued the backing of the Grunwick Group under both the Tripleprint and bonusprint.com brands.

"We hope this transitory phase in the photo-processing business is only temporary and that Grunwick will re-enter the sponsorship marketplace again in due course. Racing, and Cheltenham in particular, has much to thank bonusprint.com and its sister brands for over the past two decades.

"Losing a major sponsor is always difficult, but this does afford us a tremendous opportunity to reassess the two-day December meeting and try and raise its profile even higher, hopefully to the level enjoyed by The Open the previous month."

The Grunwick Group ceased sponsoring at the Cheltenham Festival after the 2004 event. It had backed the bonusprint.com Stayers' Hurdle from 1991 and that race is now the Ladbrokes World Hurdle.