Jockey Paul Mulrennan going all out for £100,000 bonus in £1.2m Series – every race live on ITV Racing
The first Sky Bet Sunday Series fixture of 2022, at Hamilton Park on Sunday, worth £205,000 in prize-money, has attracted a bumper 194 runners for the seven races – all of which are live on ITV4.
The £1.2m Series, in its second year, offers an additional £250,000 worth of bonuses for jockeys, apprentices, trainers, owners, and stable staff. The prize-money and incentives have been rewarded with extremely encouraging entries.
Hamilton Park’s race-day is the most valuable in its history and its Managing Director, Ashley Moon, said:
“Given the spotlight on low field sizes right now, the entries for Sunday’s card are extremely welcome and appreciated. It shows what can be achieved when the industry comes together to put on excellent prize-money and competitive racing in a late-afternoon weekend slot, which is all on terrestrial television. It’s a fantastic initiative which hopefully will help to attract the next generation of racing fans.”
There is a Sky Bet Sunday Series Bonus of £100,000 on offer for the first jockey to ride a total of seven winners across the six fixtures, and leading northern-based rider Paul Mulrennan will be going “all out” for it.
Mulrennan said:
“The £100,000 bonus certainly concentrates the mind! With five of the six fixtures in the north, where I am based, I’ll certainly be going all out for it. There will be a lot of jockeys like me, thinking it’s going to be challenging, but not impossible. It’s brilliant to see Sky Bet, ITV and the racecourses teaming up to put on the Series. Hopefully, Hamilton Park will be rewarded with a decent crowd, and many younger, first-time racegoers and, judging by the entries, it looks like the sport is really getting behind the Series, which is great to see.”
The bonuses and prizes linking the Sky Bet Sunday Series include:
- £100,000 to the first jockey to ride 7 winners in the Series
- £100,000 to the owner of the first horse to win 3 races in the Series
- £25,000 to the first trainer to train 7 winners in the Series
- Stable Staff prizes to the three leading stables with guaranteed prizes of £10,000 (1st), £3,000 (2nd) and £2,000 (3rd), based on points from winners, seconds, thirds and runners
- Prize for winning apprentice (based on most wins/places in the Series), including a 12-month
sponsorship from Sporting Life (worth £5k) and Media training/internship with Racing TV - Enhanced Best Turned Out: £250 per race (split for 1st, 2nd and 3rd) for all races in the Series
The Sky Bet Sunday Series is open to all trainers who have horses eligible for the race conditions and the six seven-race Sunday cards comprise:
- 8th May – Hamilton Park
- 22nd May – York
- 5th June – Musselburgh
- 19th June – Pontefract
- 7th August – Haydock Park
- 21st August – Sandown Park
The Series will again endeavour to make racing simpler to understand and more accessible to wider audiences by delving behind the scenes and uncovering the less-told stories.
ITV Racing’s coverage this Sunday will be presented by Luke Harvey alongside Leonna Mayor, Megan Nicholls and Timeform’s Dan Barber, with commentary from Mark Johnson. The ITV 4 coverage will also include three races from Leopardstown including the renowned Derby Trial.
Racing TV will also be showing all six fixtures in full. Tom Stanley will be leading the coverage, which will also focus on the lesser-known jockeys riding during the Series, and will include a special feature on Grant Tuer, who was leading trainer in the inaugural 2021 Series.
The Sky Bet Sunday Series is an industry-wide collaboration between ITV, Sky Bet, Racecourse Media Group, and the six racecourses, which will showcase the sport in a twilight slot on terrestrial television this summer.
