No Festival bonus for Imperial Cup winner

Sandown has announced Close Brothers as the new sponsor of Saturday’s Imperial Cup — but no winning cash bonus for following up at the Cheltenham Festival will be on offer.

The UK merchant banking group, which also sponsors the novices’ handicap on the first day of the Cheltenham Festival, replaces William Hill as backers of the feature handicap.

More than 100 years old, the race will be worth £70,000 (€90,500) in prize-money but will not carry a bonus for any horse who goes on to score at the Festival, as has been the case in recent years.