MANCHESTER, England, September 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Cheltenham Racecourse has announced that as part of Betfred's purchase of the Tote, the Cheltenham Gold Cup will be renamed The Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup for 2012.

Making the announcement, Cheltenham's Managing Director, Edward Gillespie, said: "I am delighted to confirm that our biggest race will be known as The Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2012. The race takes place exactly 6 months from today, on Friday March 16^th and the team here is really looking forward to working closely with Fred Done and his colleagues in the build up to The Festival this season. We have already had some positive early discussions with the Betfred team about this sponsorship and we are very pleased to welcome Betfred as the latest sponsor of this historic race."  

Betfred boss, Fred Done, added: "Sponsoring The Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup is one of the proudest moments of my career and we are now looking forward to sitting down to discuss the future, having been very impressed by the professionalism of Edward Gillespie and his team."

Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup 2012 latest odds

11/4      Long Run
14        Imperial Commander
14        Captain Chris
14        Time for Rupert
14        Weapons Amnesty
16        Diamond Harry
20        Denman
20        Quito de la Roque
25        Bar

Notes to editors:

• The Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup takes place on Friday March 16^th 2012.
• A microsite for the event, http://www.betfredcheltenhamgoldcup.com, will be launched at 12 noon on Friday September 16^th 2011
• Please link to us from your news stories using the following HTML code: http://www.betfredcheltenhamgoldcup.com">Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup
• If you are using a CMS please use the link text Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup and destination URL http://www.betfredcheltenhamgoldcup.com.

Contact: Mark Pearson / mark.pearson@betfred.com

SOURCE Betfred