24.10.09 - THE GRAND NATIONAL, RACING AT AINTREE

'SMITHY THE HORSE' PREPARED TO COME UNDER STARTER'S ORDERS

Smithy The Horse, a 3-year-old chestnut gelding by 2003 Derby winner Kris Kin (out of Priyanka), was today, unveiled at Aintree as the latest addition to John Smith’s racing sponsorship plans for 2010. A campaign set to run in thousands of pubs and clubs across the UK from January will give John Smith’s drinkers a No Nonsense chance to experience racing from the inside – all for the price of a pint!

Smithy is currently in training with Donald McCain at the Bank House stables in Cheshire where it is hoped he will be inspired by memories of Aintree legends Red Rum and Amberleigh House and the proximity of star horses such as Cloudy Lane and Whiteoak. Donald and his father Ginger McCain have worked closely with John Smith’s in recent weeks to select the strapping son of Kris Kin and John Smith’s have also drafted in Grand National winning Jockey Mick Fitzgerald to work on the campaign.

Donald McCain said: “Dad bought the horse as a yearling and he’s been down at Mickley Stud since then. We broke him in earlier this year and he has shown enough to convince us that he has the potential to become a decent horse. We plan to find a bumper for him in the early part of next year and see where we go from there”.

This new racing partnership will give his many co-owners a role in the journey Smithy and his team take in the racing season and key decisions about his progress being put to put to the vote of Smithy’s ‘shareholders’ along the way. The People’s Racehorse will replace the John Smith’s People’s Race which, after 3 hugely successful years, will be discontinued in favour of a campaign that will demystify the Sport of Kings and give John Smith’s drinkers an insiders’ view of the world of racing.

Mark Given, Brands Director, Scottish and Newcastle UK, said:” We are tremendously excited by the prospect of Smithy the Horse – as The People’s Racehorse – bringing a new dimension to our racing activity and a new audience to the sport. Extensive research undertaken with John Smith’s drinkers tells us that they relish the chance to share in the ownership of a racehorse and Smithy will meet that desire in every way.”

Smithy’s introduction coincides with the announcement Scottish and Newcastle will continue to sponsor the John Smith’s Grand National for a further three years when the current agreement expires next year.

“Has Ginger unearthed another Aintree Gem?”

Totesport quote Smithy the Horse at 25-1 to win any race at the John Smith’s Grand National meeting between now and the end of their new sponsorship deal (2013). They have also put him in at 12-1 to win any race at Aintree before the end of 2011.

Totesport have kindly offered John Smith’s a charity bet of £100 to be placed at 25-1 with the proceeds going to Alder Hey Hospital’s Imagine appeal.