Ladbrokes World Hurdle Heads Festival Thursday Line-Up

Next year´s Cheltenham Festival extends to four days - Tuesday to Friday, March 15 to 18 - with the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup and most of the last-day card moving to the Friday.

Today the full programme of races and sponsors for Thursday, March 17, is revealed and this will feature the Grade 1 Ladbrokes World Hurdle, formerly the Stayers´ Hurdle, with prize money increasing from £140,000 to £200,000.

The programme will open with the £80,000 Jewson Novices´ Handicap Chase over two miles and five furlongs and prize money for the day will total £610,000 to include the Daily Telegraph Festival Chase, the Mildmay of Flete Handicap Chase, the National Hunt Chase and the Pertemps Handicap Hurdle Final.

In recent years, the race that will now be the Ladbrokes World Hurdle has become one of the major events on the Festival card, attracting an international field and last season saw a thrilling climax featuring dual winner Baracouda and the new champion, Iris´s Gift. The significant uplift in prize money and status as the feature race on day three is sure to give even greater profile to this category of long-distance hurdlers throughout the season.

Ladbrokes have today opened betting on the 2005 Ladbrokes World Hurdle, installing Baracouda as the 5/2 favourite.

The full betting is 5/2 Baracouda, 3/1 Rhinestone Cowboy, 10/1 Fundamentalist, Inglis Drever, Monkerhostin, Royal Rosa, 14/1 Crystal D´Ainay, 16/1 Rosaker, Sh Boom, 20/1 Limestone Lad, 25/1 Mughas, 33/1 Grey Report, Solerina, Trouble At Bay, 40/1 Accipiter.

Chris Bell, CEO of Ladbrokes Worldwide, the world´s biggest bookmaker, commented: 'We have long supported the initiative to have four days at The Festival and we are delighted that it has come about. The race programme which has been devised looks really strong and extremely attractive and we are looking forward to The Festival with great anticipation. We are very proud to be associated with the biggest betting Festival of the year and delighted to be sponsoring the Ladbrokes World Hurdle.'

Edward Gillespie, Cheltenham´s Managing Director, said: 'This great race was introduced to The Festival as the Spa Hurdle in 1972 and has thrived under the support to two most generous sponsors, Waterford Crystal, and - for the last 14 years - Bonusprint to whom we are indebted. Having been nurtured as the second feature on both Champion Hurdle Day and Gold Cup Day, the sheer quality of recent contests makes this the most natural progression and we are thrilled to see this race rebranded as the Ladbrokes World Hurdle with a 40 per cent uplift in value.'

Jewson, the UK´s leading timber supplier and builders´ merchant, is to sponsor the new two-and-a-half mile novices´ chase that is set to open the card on Thursday, March 17.

Peter Hindle, Managing Director of Jewson and Chief Executive of Saint Gobain Building Distribution UK and Ireland, commented: 'We have experienced great success over six seasons with our sponsorship of the Summer Novices´ Hurdle Series and its October Final at Cheltenham. This is now an outstanding opportunity for us to step onto the larger stage of Cheltenham´s exciting new Festival format.

'We hope that this race will emerge as a major target for future champion steeplechasers, and we are delighted to be working with the Cheltenham Racecourse team in promoting that ambition.

'As our own branch network develops its reputation for quality products and excellent service, there could be no finer sporting occasion for brand association than the greatest jump racing meeting in the world.'

Edward Gillespie added: 'We are also delighted to welcome Jewson to The Festival and, together with the Daily Telegraph, we could not wish for a stronger line-up to launch the programme for this very special occasion.'