One of the Cheltenham Festival’s longest running sponsors has ended their 51-year association with the flagship horse racing meeting.
Coral have terminated their long partnership with the festival, citing financial pressures in the wake of the government’s gambling tax hike announced in November.
It’s a decision that will bring the curtain down on the Coral Cup, a race first contested at the Cheltenham Festival back in 1993, as well as the firm’s relationship with the meeting as a whole, which began in the 1970s.
Pulling the Plug
Many an industry insider had warned that bookmakers and operators would need to tighten their belts in the wake of an industry tax hike.
That materialised in November, with gambling tax doubled for some verticals as of April this year – Remote Gaming Duty, paid on online casino profits, was increased from 21% to an eye-watering 40%.
It’s a rate rise that has forced operators into emergency strategic reviews, with a reduction in marketing spend one of the quickest and easiest ‘wins’ to be had.
Unfortunately, that’s bad news for horse racing, who rely heavily on the external investment of bookmakers and betting firms in sponsoring individual races and entire meetings.
BetGoodwin and DragonBet revealed within days of the gambling tax announcement that they would be halting their horse racing sponsorships, while major players like Flutter Entertainment and the Evoke Group have also confirmed their plans to cut their marketing spend in 2026.
Coral, part of the Entain group of brands that also includes Ladbrokes, are the first to pull their funding from UK racing’s blue riband fixture. Their PR director, Simon Clare, commented:
“It is with some sadness that we are today announcing that Coral will not be continuing with its sponsorship of the Coral Cup.
“The sheer size of the government’s recent tax increase on betting operators means we are having to take very difficult decisions as we look to mitigate some of the huge impact – none more difficult or regrettable than bringing our sponsorship at Cheltenham to an end.”
Clare also revealed that horse racing was the brand’s ‘most expensive’ product, allied to the cost of media rights and streaming deals, and warned of a dire future if rates continued to rise for bookmakers wanting to offer racing markets to their customers.
However, at the time of writing, it’s thought that Entain will continue to sponsor other races in their portfolio, which include the Coral-Eclipse and Ladbrokes King George VI Chase.
The Coral Cup, famous for its large field sizes, has been a mainstay of the Cheltenham Festival for more than three decades.
The Premier Handicap has played host to many a memorable moment over the years, including Langer Dan’s back-to-back victories and the famous win of Jimmy Du Seuil last year; the horse trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by his nephew, Danny.
Eyes on the Prize
The need to find replace sponsors has become even more frantic for the Jockey Club, who operate the Cheltenham Festival.
They have just announced a prize money rise for 2026, which will see the outfit pay out more than £61 million for races held at their various venues.
The Jockey Club today announces that total prize money at its 15 racecourses will rise to £61.47 million this year.
Read more here: https://t.co/apAmGC0cKg pic.twitter.com/RPNDtWcgmC
— The Jockey Club (@TheJockeyClub) January 29, 2026
That’s a sizable increase on the £58 million paid out in 2025, with a decent chunk of that to be ringfenced for the Epsom Derby Festival, where the total prize kitty will rise to £1.37 million.
All told, 322 Jockey Club fixtures will be held this year, which is a minor increase from the 318 contested in 2025, which confirms that the bulk of the new prize money fund will go to pre-existing races and meetings – the average bounty per fixture will increase by £8,000.
Funding from the Horserace Betting Levy Board will be used to plug some of the gap, alongside an increase from the Jockey Club’s own bank account – £31.7 million, which is up on the £30.6 million dished out last year.
But they will still need to plug the considerable gap left behind by Coral, with a new race sponsor for the Coral Cup renewal to be sought.
However, the Jockey Club has already revealed one new sponsor for the Cheltenham Festival, with Singer Capital Markets brought on board to lend their name and funding to the Arkle Novices’ Chase.