Jockey Club offers 1 million pound Triple Crown bonus

The Jockey Club, which owns a number of leading racecourses, is offering the windfall if any horse wins the Betfair Chase at Haydock Park in November, the 32Red King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March.

(Reuters)

"Since we introduced the bonus in 2015-16 it has caught the public's imagination," said Jockey Club Chief Executive Paul Fisher.

"Cue Card coming so close two years ago helped grow the interest in not only these three races but Jumps racing across the board," he added.

The last horse to complete the hat-trick was Kauto Star in 2005. Two seasons ago Cue Card won two of the feature races -- the Betfair Chase and the King George - before falling three fences from home at Cheltenham.

Cue Card prevailed in the Betfair Chase last season as well but with Thistlecrack winning the 32Red King George VI Chase and Sizing John winning the Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup, there was no bonus winner.

Fisher said Jockey Club will contribute a record breaking 22.9 million pounds to prize money this year.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Keith Weir)