National Hunt racing received a welcome boost with the announcement that Satellite Information Services (SIS) is to sponsor a nationwide competition to 'Win a racehorse for a season' in aid of the British Red Cross Queen Mother Memorial Fund.
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's trainer, Nicky Henderson, who is now training her late mother's horses for Her Majesty The Queen, has agreed to lease to the Fund a Horse for the National Hunt season 2004/5. This will be trained by Henderson, and the SIS sponsorship will cover all training fees and associated costs.
Punters can win ownership of the horse for the National Hunt season by buying a ticket for £5 on many racecourses around the country between now and March 12, when the winner's name will be drawn by SIS chief executive David Holdgate at Sandown Park. The presentation of the trainer and winner will take place at the Cheltenham Festival, on Queen Mother Champion Chase Day on Wednesday, March 17.
The new owner will have his/her own racing colours, and be the registered owner of the horse for the season. The horse will come from one of the top National Hunt bloodlines, so drawing the winning ticket could be an exciting prospect for one lucky punter, as prize money won by the horse will be kept by the winner.
The many volunteers who are helping the Queen Mother Memorial Fund will run a small stand at many race meetings throughout the winter, to sell draw tickets and answer questions about the competition.
The funds from draw ticket sales, which are raised in the Queen Mother's memory, will help the Tracing and Message Service of the British Red Cross in their work to reunite families separated by conflict. This was a cause particularly close to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, as during the First World War she was able to contact her brother, who was being held prisoner of war, via this service.
To promote sales of the draw tickets, the Fund volunteers will be organising special events at race meetings at Ascot on Saturday, January 31, at Newbury on Saturday, February 14, at Sandown Park on Friday, March 12, and at Cheltenham on Wednesday, March 17.