• Betfair to become headline sponsors of Newcastle’s feature meetings, The Northumberland Plate Festival and Fighting Fifth Hurdle.

Arena Racing Company (“ARC”) and Newcastle Racecourse are delighted to announce a new multi year partnership with Betfair for both the Northumberland Plate Festival and Fighting Fifth Hurdle.

The Betfair Northumberland Plate Festival runs for three days between Thursday 27 and Saturday 29 June, with the historic Betfair Exchange Northumberland Plate the feature race, which will be broadcast live on ITV 1 and Sky Sports Racing.  The richest two-mile handicap in Europe, the Betfair Exchange Northumberland Plate has been run at Gosforth Park since 1882 and is known locally as the Pitmen’s Derby.

The race was won in 2018 by the Roger Charlton trained Withhold, ridden by Robert Winston and owned by Tony Bloom.