ARC to offer British race winners free entry to US prize pool

British racecourse operating group Arena Racing Company (ARC), has teamed up with US-based thoroughbred racing and pari-mutuel wagering firm 1/ST. 

The partnership will offer a selection of winners of the races at Doncaster Racecourse – home of the Betfred St Leger Stakes – to enter for free into the races across 1/ST’s portfolio of tracks across the US, such as the inaugural California Crown race day at Santa Anita Park, to be held on 28 September. 

Director of Media and International at ARC, Brendan Parnell, said: “We are delighted to announce this partnership with 1/ST to offer the winners of two of the most high-profile races during the Betfred St Leger Festival the opportunity to take up some exciting opportunities in the USA.

“Likewise, in extending the qualification criteria for the All-Weather Championships, and the link with Gulfstream Park, we hope that we might look to add some further international interest in the £1,000,000 Good Friday fixture, alongside the long standing Irish and French participation.”

On the Betfred St Leger track, the winner of the Group 2 Betfred May Hill Stakes will be invited to attend the races on US soil, with no fees attached. Furthermore, the winner of the Carlsberg Danish Pilsner Flying Childers Stakes will get a free entry into the California Crown Eddie D. Turf Spring, for the chance of winning a potential $750,000.

Aidan Butler, President of 1/ST, added: “We’re thrilled to expand our existing partnership with ARC. Working with Doncaster and its revered St Leger Festival is truly a privilege, while we’re also looking forward to sending over a horse for the All-Weather Championships next Spring at Newcastle. Collectively, we’re playing our part to bring US and UK racing closer together across elite races on all surfaces.

“By coupling timeless tradition to forward-thinking innovation, via newly-conceived concepts like the California Crown at Santa Anita Park on 28 September (California’s richest day of racing outside the Breeders’ Cup), we will only build on this association and progressive program in the years ahead. 

“At 1/ST, our goal is always the betterment of top-class international fields, a cornerstone project in growing and sustaining the sport we love on both sides of the pond.”