The Sportsman Joins Grand National Party Aintree Racecourse announced today that The Sportsman will become the third and final official partner to the 2006 John Smith´s Grand National meeting. This is the first major sponsorship for The Sportsman, who will launch the sports betting and racing paper on March 22.Two races at the world famous race meeting will carry The Sportsman title - on Thursday, April 6, the BBC-televised The Sportsman Anniversary 4yo Novices´ Hurdle, won in 2005 by the Nicky Richards-trained Faasel, and on Friday, April 7, The Sportsman Handicap Hurdle.The Sportsman will join Betfair (official betting partner) and Citroen (official vehicle supplier) as official partners to the John Smith´s sponsored three-day meeting. As well as the race sponsorship, all partners receive on-course branding, corporate hospitality and various other marketing privileges as part of the agreements with Aintree Racecourse.Charlie Methven, The Sportsman´s Editor-in-Chief, commented: 'For The Sportsman´s launch we wanted to associate the paper with a massive betting event and it doesn´t get any bigger than The John Smith´s Grand National. This opportunity gives us a huge national audience and major exposure within Merseyside itself. We see the North West as a crucial audience for The Sportsman given the incredible sporting heritage of the area.'Inevitably, the enormous growth of sports betting has created a hunger for information and knowledge to the sports and racing bettor. We feel strongly that our team of over 120 staff can deliver a service that has never been on offer before and to promote The Sportsman during the most high profile race meeting in the UK is perfect.'Charles Barnett, Managing Director of Aintree Racecourse, added: 'We are delighted to be at the forefront of The Sportsman´s launch and look forward to working with them at the Grand National meeting. The Sportsman will create additional exposure to an event that already enjoys exceptional international publicity across all forms of media.'As the title suggests, The Sportsman, is targeted directly at those who start their newspaper reading from the back page and who like to bet. The paper will offer in-depth reports, results and information from those closest to sport as well as contributions from some of the most respected writers in the business.
