Tonybet marks third year as Solonaway Stakes sponsor

Tonybet has marked its third consecutive year as title sponsor of the Group 2 Solonaway Stakes on the opening day of Leopardstown's Irish Champions Festival, giving the bookmaker sustained visibility at what organisers describe as one of the highest quality fixtures in the Flat racing calendar. The Tonybet Solonaway Stakes produced a winner in Quddwah, trained by Simon and Ed Crisford, the second time the duo has won the race after Jadoomi's victory in 2022. The card also included the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes, won by 50/1 outsider Hotazhell, and drew a post-COVID record crowd of 11,516 spectators.

Tonybet is an online betting and gaming company founded in 2009 by Lithuanian-Australian poker player Antanas Guoga, headquartered in Riga, Latvia, and licensed across multiple jurisdictions including Ireland, Spain and Canada. Chief executive Dmitry Arabuli leads the company.

Leopardstown Racecourse is Ireland's leading dual-purpose racecourse, situated on a 220-acre estate in south Dublin and owned by state body Horse Racing Ireland since 1967. The venue hosts 23 fixtures a year including the Irish Champions Festival, Dublin Racing Festival and Christmas Festival.

The sponsorship's longevity, now in its third year, gives Tonybet a fixed annual presence at one of Irish racing's showcase weekends, timed to coincide with the sport's biggest attendances of the Flat season.

Tonybet chief executive Dmitry Arabuli said being part of the Group 2 Tonybet Solonaway Stakes was very special and a proud moment for the business, adding that the Irish Champions Festival is one of the highest quality fixtures in the Flat racing calendar and continues to grow each year as attendances rise.

Tonybet brand ambassador and former Irish footballer Tony Cascarino presented the trophies to the winning connections, extending the sponsorship's activation beyond branding into on-course engagement with fans around the parade ring.

For the sector, the deal illustrates how betting operators use a single, repeatedly branded race, rather than broader event-wide sponsorship, to build a recognisable annual fixture within a festival's wider racing programme, anchoring their name to one race across multiple years rather than seeking title rights to the meeting as a whole.

Source: NEXT.io / Horse Racing Ireland