New Sponsor for Ulster's Biggest Race

Randox, a world leader in healthcare diagnostics, and sponsors of the richest race in National Hunt racing the Randox Grand National at Aintree have added to their sporting portfolio with taking over as the sponsor of the Ulster National at Downpatrick Racecourse for the next five years.

The company joined forces with Ulster University in 2018 as a university-wide overall sponsor of sport.

Downpatrick Racecourse, winner of the ‘Sports Venue of the Year’ in both 2018 and 2019 at the Northern Ireland Hospitality Awards, hosts the €50,000 Randox Ulster National, on Sunday, March 22, their flagship race day.

Randox is based in Crumlin, County Antrim and was founded in 1982 by medical scientist and keen horseman Dr Peter FitzGerald.

The Randox Ulster National is one of the most historic races on the racing calendar. Run over three miles and four furlongs, the race was first run in 1939 and has a long and illustrious history.

Caughoo won the 1945 and 1946 Ulster National before winning the 1947 Aintree Grand National for jockey Eddie Dempsey and Dublin-based trainer, Herbert McDowell. Laffy, owned by HRH Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, won the Ulster National in 1962 and Pineau De Re also won Downpatrick’s centrepiece jumps race in 2013 and subsequently went on to win the Aintree Grand National the next season (2014).

“This is an incredibly exciting time to be partnering with Downpatrick Racecourse to add the Randox Ulster National to our racing portfolio,” said Fitzgerald.

“Racing is a sport everyone can enjoy, from all different walks of life, and a partnership with Downpatrick offers us a fantastic opportunity to share our message of preventative health with a wide and engaged audience.”

“We look forward to the first year of the Randox Ulster National, to show our commitment to this wonderful sport and to encourage people to take control of their health and wellbeing with a Randox Health Check.”

“We are really excited to partner with such a respected global brand as Randox for our most prestigious race meeting and look forward to working closely together to create a wonderful race day for our customers and achieve our shared objectives.”

“The Randox partnership will ensure we continue to attract high calibre horses for the Randox Ulster National and further endorse its important position on the racing calendar.”

The announcement comes hot on the heels of a 13 per cent rise in sponsorship income for the sport in 2019 as published in the Horse Racing Ireland Annual statistics and carried on sport for business earlier this week.