Tote Ireland are to sponsor one of Ireland’s top staying chases, the Punchestown Gold Cup. The race will now be called the “thetote.com Punchestown Gold Cup”, promoting Tote Ireland’s online pool betting website. The Tote replaces Guinness as title sponsor of the feature race though Diageo will continue to sponsor two races at the Festival and play a major role.
The 2012 Gold Cup will be run on Wednesday April 25th and is valued at €140,000 with €85,400 going to the winner. The race has recently been highlighted as a possible option for 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Long Run.
Commenting on the sponsorship, Dick O’Sullivan, Manager of Punchestown said “We are delighted to welcome the Tote as title sponsors of the Gold Cup on Festival Wednesday.  The race will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of the Festival week. We also look forward to continuing our long standing relationship with previous Gold Cup sponsor Diageo, who will continue to play a major role throughout the Festival and will sponsor The Grade A Guinness Handicap Steeplechase on Festival Wednesday as well as the very last race of the Festival on the Saturday.
Dryden Geary, Marketing Manager of Tote Ireland said: “The sponsorship will give us an ideal opportunity to introduce new customers to the exciting pool betting opportunities available on our website www.thetote.com and to reward our current account holders for their continued custom.”
Advance ticket sales for the Punchestown Festival are ahead of where they were in each of the last three years.
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