Major Aintree revamp

AINTREE has announced major plans for a £30million redevelopment which will include new grandstands, a parade ring and winner’s enclosure for the home of the Grand National.

It is hoped construction work can start after next year’s National meeting. The project will be completed in two phases and the whole job is expected to be finished in time for the 2007 National fixture.

Plans incorporate three main projects:The building of new grandstands; the re-location of the parade ring, winner’s and unsaddling enclosures, plus construction of a new weighing room and stable complex, and the building of a new permanent Aintree pavilion.

The redevelopment will be paid for from Aintree’s own resources as well as with money from the Levy Board and European and regional funding.

Meanwhile, Newbury has joined forces with Paddy Power to create a five-year sponsorship programme.

The Irish firm are backing the London Paddy Power Gold Cup and three other races on Juddmonte Lockinge Stakes day at Newbury on Saturday.

The race has a unique formula for calculating its value, based directly on Paddy Power’s growth in the UK.

It will be worth an initial £18,000, in line with the firm’s 18 UK shops currently operating in London, but the fund will grow by £1,000 for every new shop Paddy Power open inside the boundaries of the M25.

Both parties expect the value to reach the £100,000 mark within the initial term of the sponsorship agreement, ending in 2008.