Irish airline Ryanair is reportedly "the front-runner to take over the sponsorship of the World Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival after the breakdown of last ditch talks between Ladbrokes and the racing industry," according to Mark Souster of the LONDON TIMES. The Irish airline is keen to "adopt" the third day of the Festival as it already backs the Ryanair Chase, "which shares top billing with the stayers' race on that afternoon's card." The airline run by Michael O’Leary, one of jump racing’s biggest owners, "had been lined up and on standby pending the outcome of the negotiations" over the valuable £250,000 ($358,400) annual sponsorship of the race. These "finally collapsed at the end of last week." Ladbrokes had hoped to be able to continue its backing of the race that it had been associated with for the past 11 years. The situation "is complicated by the fact that Ladbrokes also runs three retail outlets at the course during the four-day jamboree." Who takes over those "remains to be seen." It is understood that Cheltenham offered Ladbrokes "the opportunity to keep running the retail outlets." This "is because none of the three bookmakers who have signed up to gain ABP status" -- Bet365, 32Red and Betfair -- have the "requisite experience." This offer was turned down by Ladbrokes (LONDON TIMES, 2/18).
