Extra Prize Money And Bonus Tempts Leading Owners Leading owner, JP McManus, stands a great chance of claiming the ?50,000 Blue Square Bonus, on offer to the racehorse owner who wins both the Sporting Index cross-country race in March at the Cheltenham Festival and the Blue Square La Touche Cup at Punchestown in April with the same horse.Leading interactive bookmakers, Blue Square, are crossing the Irish Channel and taking up the reins for the second consecutive year as sponsors of the Blue Square La Touche Cup, the Irish racing spectacular over the banks at Punchestown, the purse for which has been increased to ?40,000 for 2006.JP McManus was poised to win the bonus in 2005 with the Enda Bolger-trained Spot Thedifference, who won the cross-country race at Cheltenham but was a last minute non-runner in the La Touche. JP holds three of the 44 entries for this year´s Cheltenham race, all past winners of the La Touche: the 2005 winner Goodstep, the 2004 winner, cross-country specialist, Spot Thedifference and the 2003 winner Buailtes And Fadas. Trainer Enda Bolger reports that the plan with all three horses is to run at Cheltenham and then Punchestown. He commented: 'I am very hopeful that JP can win the Blue Square Bonus this year, as he has three horses with live chances'. The Blue Square La Touche Cup takes place on Thursday 28th April at the internationally renowned Punchestown Festival, where the craic and racing are legendary. The Festival attracts over 80,000 guests over the four days and offers ?2 million in prize money. The racecourse has benefited from over ?20m invested in the site over the last five years. In addition, Blue Square are sponsoring the Blue Square 1800 905050 Handicap Hurdle on Wednesday 26th. The sponsorships at Punchestown provide Blue Square with the ideal platform to increase awareness of their brand. Irish punters will now be able to join in the Blue Square experience, which offers poker and casino games in addition to the vast number of betting options available on a range of sports, financials and specials markets.Ben Warn, Blue Square's Commercial Director commented: 'It is tremendous news that the prize money has been increased for the La Touche and Blue Square will be offering special prices about the double, for punters who pick the winning horse that scoops the Blue Square Bonus.'
