Ballymore lend name to Festival

Cheltenham Racecourse has unveiled Ballymore Properties as the new sponsor of the Grade One hurdle, formerly known as the Royal & SunAlliance Novices' Hurdle. 

The event will be run on Wednesday 14 March next, as
the Ballymore Properties Novices' Hurdle.

The race has a record prize fund of £120,000, which is an increase of 20 per cent over last year's total for the race.

As well as supporting the Ballymore Properties Novices' Hurdle, the influential leader in urban development and regeneration is extending its commitment to jump racing this season by supporting a series of Pattern novice hurdle races, which are traditional stepping-stones to the two mile, five furlong novice hurdle championship at The Festival in March.

The five other premier contests that now carry the Ballymore Properties name are the Grade Two Ballymore Ontario Tower Novices' Hurdle at Chepstow, which has already been run, the Grade Two Winter Novices' Hurdle at Sandown on Saturday, 2 December,  the Grade One Challow Novices' Hurdle at Newbury
on Friday 29 December, the Grade Two Leamington Novices' Hurdle at Warwick on Saturday 13 January and the Grade Two Classic Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham on Saturday January 27, all of which will have the Ballymore Properties or associated suffix.

Ballymore Properties is named after the village of Ballymore Eustace in Ireland where renowned racehorse owner Sean Mulryan founded the company in 1982.

Mulryan's dark blue and yellow colours have become an increasingly familiar sight on racecourses in recent seasons and were carried to third place in the 2006 totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup by his high-class chaser Forget The Past.

The Mulryan-owned Ambobo scored a famous success in the Grade Two Classic Novices' Hurdle, which is now sponsored by Ballymore Properties, at Cheltenham in January, 2005, when trained in France by Arnaud Chaille-Chaille.

The French handler has several Mulryan horses in his care, notably the brilliant pair of Mid Dancer and Cyrlight, and the exciting Grade One-winning four-year-old chaser, Or Noir De Somoza.

Mid Dancer suffered defeat in the Grade One Irish Independent Arkle Trophy at this year's Festival, but subsequently won the French Champion Hurdle at Auteuil in June. He is being aimed at the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Mulryan has also tasted Group One success on the Flat with the Andre Fabre-trained Linda's Lad, who won the 2005 Criterium de Saint-Cloud and contested this year's Vodafone Derby at Epsom.