UNIBET, alongside the Jockey Club and BHA, will be launching a new middle-distance veterans’ chase series for 10, 11 and 12-year-olds over two miles and four furlongs.

The Unibet Middle Distance Veterans’ Series has been created to generate more opportunities for quality 10-year-old-plus chasers who might have found winning chances limited in other valuable races.

The five-year deal will launch throughout the 2023/24 Jump racing season, with six races followed by a series finale which will take place at Haydock on the 30^th March 2024.

The 2024 finale will not require horses to have run in previous races in the series. However, The Jockey Club will fund a £10,000 bonus for any horse that wins the finale, if they have also won another race in the series earlier in the season.

The opening race of the series will take place at Kempton on 13^th November 2023, before heading to Cheltenham for their Christmas meeting on 15^th December. Four of the races currently scheduled throughout the 2023/24 campaign will be shown live on ITV.

Looking further ahead, from the start of the 2024/25 season the Unibet Middle Distance Veterans’ Series will become an eleven-race series with ten qualifiers and a final for horses who have entered and ran in that season’s series. The opening race of the series will take place at Market Rasen on the 20^th July 2024, with the final once again taking place at Haydock, on the 8^th April 2025. Six of the eleven races will be shown live on ITV.

Since their entry into the UK market in 2013 the Unibet brand alone has sponsored over 2,000 races. Unibet recently signed a multi -million-pound sponsorship deal which will see them continue their sponsorship of the Unibet Champion Hurdle, along with other top-class two-mile hurdle races, for the next five years, until 2028.

Ed Nicholson, Head of Kindred Group racing:

“We are delighted to sign another new long-term deal with the Jockey Club and further showcase Unibet’s commitment to UK horse racing. Veterans’ Chases are extremely popular and often attract competitive fields. Following the success of the Unibet Veterans’ Chase Final run over three miles at Sandown in January, sponsored by Unibet since 2018, we thought there was a need for a similar series over a shorter trip, so approached the Jockey Club to see what we could come up with”.

“It is always exciting to see much-loved older horses competing for good prize money. Hopefully the series will help persuade owners to keep some of the legends of our sport in the game for a little longer. I personally spoke to several high-profile owners and trainers during the research stage explaining our idea and received extremely positive feedback, which was enormously pleasing”.

Nicholson continued:

“This agreement comes at a pivotal time for our sectors. Over the course of this new deal through to 2028, the landscape for betting and racing in the UK could look very different. We fully understand the concerns currently being raised by many in the racing sector about the potential friction caused by some of the white paper consultations for millions of everyday racing punters. We are keen to continue being a partner to the sport we love and are committed to continue investing in and supporting it in the coming years.”

Nicky Henderson, six-time Champion Trainer, commented: 

“It is great to see a new veterans’ chase series set up over two and a half miles. These races are vital for horses of a certain age whose best years are behind them but are still having to compete off lofty handicap marks. These races provide a fantastic opportunity for some wonderful servants of our game to still compete for top prize money. It’s also brilliant for racing fans to be able to come and see some of their favourite household names at the twilight of their careers and we hope to be able to support the series.”

Richard Norris, Group Racing Director at The Jockey Club, said:

“We’re delighted to be strengthening our partnership with Unibet in an area of the race programme that has proved so beneficial to the horse population and popular with racegoers.

“Our thanks go to Ed and his team for their drive and support for this initiative and we look forward to seeing the series commence over the coming season.”