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Remember the fuss a few years ago when the Bunbury Cup was renamed the 32Red Cup. Short lived thankfully and now back as it should be. 32Red seem to have disappeared from race sponsorship.
I suppose the “registered as” thing overcomes the total renaming issue however messy it looks.Somebody has already mentioned it, but Newbury are especially bad at the renaming thing. The Intermediate 2m Hurdle on Hennessy day, was the Gerry Feilden, not sure it still is. However, I still call the race names by their proper names. And I also recall the Hungerford Stakes, was run on a Friday.
The one I laugh at is ‘The International’, formerly, the Bula; yeah, because we know how international NH racing is…..
The Hungerford Stakes remains extant and is run tomorrow
The Geoffrey Freer Stakes seems to be accepted as a ‘traditional’ race name but was originally – and rather grandly – called the Oxfordshire Stakes
What about the long-established St Hugh’s Stakes today? Presumably St Hugh has a connection to the Newbury area, like St Wilfrid does to Ripon
I’ve no idea where the St Hugh’s Stakes name comes from and that also applies to the St Simon Stakes, run at the October meeting.
As for names being messed about with and the usual one given with the ‘Rgeistered As’ tag, Newbury win the prize for the worst example this year. On October 22nd, they will stage:
“The Galloping To Give 10 Years With A Transplant Stakes (Class 1) (Registered as the Radley Stakes) (Listed Race)
The St Simon Stakes is named after one of the best horses of the 19th century. He was also one of the all time great sires.
St Hugh’s is a prep school between Swindon and Oxford that I sometimes pass. Its catchment area includes Lambourn. St Hugh’s is also an Oxford college. The derivation of the Newbury race must be something to do with that, but I’m guessing; it is on my list of To Dos, along with hundreds of others.
That new not-Radley Stakes name is truly ghastly.
Tomorrow’s 4.33 at Ripon is the Happy 70th Birthday Duchess Dotty Cleevely Handicap. It’s not registered as anything, but I believe Ms Cleevely must have some nice kind friends.I’ve always felt it was a shame the Magnet Cup title was discontinued even if the ale was. Mention the Magnet Cup to someone any time of the year and they would know exactly which race you were referring to. Not so sure regards the John Smith’s Cup, aren’t they ten a penny?
Always think it’s a pity the race isn’t still referred to as the Magnet Cup, when being previewed on forums like this
I had to draw a line somewhere and sponsors’ names are on the other side of it, even though Whitbread, Hennessy, Mackeson, Magnet etc are embedded in our memories.
Agree Yeats. I think I did mention the Magnet Cup on the relevant thread this year. Aside from losing its name, the race has now been overshadowed by the Saturday of the July meeting.
I believe the cask version of John Smiths is still brewed under licence by Camerons Brewery in Hartlepool but it is becoming difficult to find outside of the North East.
Camerons did used to brew Magnet under licence as well but I do not know if it still does.
I used to really miss the old sponsor names of races that only actually existed through sponsorship – the Mackeson, the Hennessy, the Whitbread.
But these things we think of as “traditional” were, in reality, merely “of our time.”
Inflicting what racing was when we first got interested in it on the modern young racing fan isn’t realistic or even, I’d argue, “right.”
Don’t get me wrong, not all change is progress and I think there’s plenty racing got right in the past and gets wrong now.
But times change.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Whitbread is no longer involved in brewing, so that name was destined to disappear. Its business ventures now include Costa Coffee and Premier Inns.
Mackeson is still made and (slightly surprisingly to me) can still be bought in Tesco and Asda.
Do people still drink milk stout? Obviously some must. However, I think it is a niche product and I can understand why it is no longer used for sponsorship.
Whitbread (which owned the brand) dropped it from the race title in the late 1990s in favour of Murphys, the Irish stout brand it had acquired and was heavily advertising on British television at the time (“Like the Murphy’s, I’m not bitter”).
Then when Whitbread gave up on brewing, I think the race became known as Thomas Pink after the shirt manufacturer.
Races known purely by the sponsors name, are a little like teams in pro cycling; even as a follower of both sports, it’s easy to forget names.
I still call the 3m Nov Chase at Cheltenham, the ‘Sun Alliance’ as I can’t remember who sponsors it now; it’s either the Marsh, or Brown Advisory, both of which I have no idea what they are, or what they do.
I do think when a long established sponsor decides to end their backing, the racecourses should show a bit of imagination and come up with a new race title, in addition to the new sponsor.
Think the race was known as The Broadway before it was sponsored.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"It still officially is The Broadway.
Other races at the Cheltenham Festival are:
Baring Bingham Novices Hurdle (Ballymore)
Spa Novices Hurdle (Albert Bartlett)
Golden Miller Novices Chase (Turners)The Ballymore was originally run as the Aldsworth Hurdle and became the Sun Alliance Hurdle in 1974.
According to Wikipedia:
“The registered (non-sponsored) title of the race is now the Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle. This is in honour of Baring Bingham, a developer who purchased Prestbury Park in 1898, and organised the first Cheltenham Festival in 1902.”
Not sure what is wrong with Aldsworth Hurdle?
Houghton Stakes, Lund Selling Stakes, Watton Handicap, Everingham Maiden Stakes, Berwick Handicap, Esk Handicap – the names of the races on my first ever day at the races at Beverley in April 1977.
Proper race names, and every one at an exact race distance – 1m, 5f, 1m2f, 1m4f, 5f, 2m – none of your 219yds nonsense.
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