The winner of the Paddy Power Imperial Cup on March 13th will once again be in line for a bumper £50,000 bonus if they can go on to claim victory at the Cheltenham Festival 2021.
Paddy’s ready to dish out the cash if the winner of the Cup can go on and claim victory at The Festival just days later.
The Paddy Power Imperial Cup bonus is worth £50,000 to connections of the winning horse in 2021 and would see £20,000 awarded to the winning owner, £10,000 to the winning trainer, £10,000 to the winning yard and £10,000 to the winning jockey – split in half if different jockeys ride at Sandown Park and Cheltenham.
Only three horses have won the bonus – Olympian (1993), Blowing Wind (1998) and Gaspara (2007), which all three horses trained by the Pipe family
The Paddy Power Imperial Cup is a handicap hurdle and takes place over two miles.
Phil White from Sandown Park said: “We’ve seen some high-quality horses win the Imperial Cup and go on to take their place at The Festival just a few days later and we hope the same happens next month.
“It would take a special horse to win the bonus but it’s been done before and we hope it can be done again.”
It’s not just those in the game who can make a killing in the Imperial Cup, as that’s now our Millionaire Chase giveaway race too.
We’ve suffered some bad luck with the weather, which last year put paid to us reinstating the bonus when we became the new sponsor of the Paddy Power Imperial Cup, and more recently stopped us from making one of our customers a millionaire on New Year’s Day and then Trials Day at Cheltenham.
However, every cloud has a silver lining and it’s now all guns blazing for a sensational Sandown showdown for the 11 lucky entrants, who have each won a weekly draw, on a day featuring a dramatic double-header. Not only will one of that 11 become a millionaire, but the winner of the Imperial Cup will scoop a prestigious race in its own right and also line themselves up for a historic tilt at our bonus.
Read More on Cheltenham 2021
- Cheltenham Festival dates, race times and antepost tips from our experts
- Cheltenham Festival: Ruby Walsh reveals what makes a top-class Champion Hurdle horse
- Cheltenham tips: Honeysuckle leads Irish charge in Champion Hurdle
- Cheltenham tips: 6 favourites worth following
- Cheltenham tips: Mick Fitzgerald’s 5 to thrive at 2021 Festival