Epsom celebrates new Derby sponsorship

Barely a month before the race, and against considerable odds, Epsom has acquired a new Derby sponsor. Not just any old short-term sponsor, either, but a blue-chip private bank prepared to back the two-day Derby meeting for five years. It must feel like a cup-winning goal in injury-time.
With the marketplace so depressed and the timescale so tight, even senior figures at Epsom and its parent group, Jockey Club Racecourses, had been publicly preparing the ground for a year without sponsorship of the greatest classic. Then, within days, a late deal was done with the specialist banking group Investec, whose most prominent sporting identity has been the autumn rugby internationals at Twickenham.
It may not have been struck at the financial level Epsom had originally pitched but it is nevertheless a triumph to recruit an international brand, new to the sport, for a long-term partnership. Nick Blofeld, the managing director at Epsom, said: “It's a good deal for us in the current market, one that should enable us to uphold prize money levels and take the meeting forward.”
Blofeld has worked tirelessly through the frustrations of trying to sell such a high-profile sponsorship in a discouraging financial climate. However, the conduit for the deal was Sir David Prosser, a non-executive director of both Investec and Epsom.
“Investec were one of the companies we'd spoken with some time ago and it was Sir David who suggested we went back to them,” Blofeld said. “We had a detailed meeting with their marketing team at the racecourse and they were impressed by our new facilities. This has all happened within the last fortnight and although we recognise it's very close to this year's meeting, the five-year term allows us to plan ahead.”
Blofeld speaks of the partnership being “a good fit”, explaining: “They have a good feeling for the history of the race but they are also quite quirky and creative on the marketing side and keen to take racing to a wider audience.” There is also a racing link, as Bernard Kantor, Investec's managing director, has horses trained by William Haggas and Mike de Kock.
This will be an informative week of Derby rehearsals, notably for Aidan O'Brien. Fame And Glory is to run at Leopardstown on Sunday and O'Brien has entered Age Of Aquarius and Masterofthehorse in Lingfield's Derby Trial the previous day.
Luca Cumani went to Epsom with a live Derby hope last year but Curtain Call could finish only tenth. The colt won for the first time since at the Curragh yesterday, confirming the health of a stable that fields Fantasia in the French 1,000 Guineas on Sunday.
Source:The times