Heros and Five Other Charities Set to Win Big at Iconic Britannia Stakes Race

A HOST of British bookmakers will donate all profits from this year’s Britannia Stakes race at Royal Ascot to a raft of top UK charities.

For the fifth year running profits from the world famous feature handicap on June 20th will be split between a new group of good causes, HEROS, Prostate Cancer UK, Ascot Racecourse Supports, Missing People, GoRacingGreen and the Churchill Lines Foundation.

Betting and Gaming Council members Flutter (Paddy Power, Betfair, Sky Bet), Entain (Ladbrokes, Coral), Evoke (888 William Hill), Kindred (Unibet), Betway, Rank Group (Grosvenor Sport), Virgin Bet, LivescoreBet, Fitzdares, Star Sports, Quinn Bet, Tote and Bet with Ascot have all signed up to the fundraising initiative.

They will hand over all profits made from win and each-way bets, after levy and duties are deducted, on the iconic big-field heritage handicap.

And if bookmakers fail to make a profit on the race, they have agreed to make a combined donation of £200,000 to be split among the nominated charities.

Since its launch the Britannia Stakes initiative has raised just under £3 million from BGC members for a host of worthy causes.

In total, since 2019, BGC members have raised in excess of £6 million for a range of health, sport and veterans charities including Prostate Cancer UK, Sue Ryder, NHS Charities Together, the Royal Navy & Royal Marines Charity, ABF the Soldier’s Charity and the RAF Benevolent Fund.

The BGC hopes the initiative will help punters enjoy a race where, even if they lose, a range of good cause are guaranteed to win.

Betting and Gaming Council CEO and Acting Chair Michael Dugher, said: “I am absolutely delighted that BGC members are once more raising vital funds at the Royal Meeting for some of the country’s top charities.

“To date, the BGC’s Britannia Stakes Charity Bet campaign has raised nearly £3 million for a host of good causes, and on behalf of the BGC and our members, we are proud to once more celebrate this iconic race, and raise vital funds along the way.

“Tens of millions of people up and down the country enjoy a flutter each month and I’m delighted that some of the country’s biggest bookmakers will once again donate their profits from one of Royal Ascot’s top races, the Britannia Stakes. I am once again indebted to everyone at Royal Ascot for their continued support.”

Grace Muir, Founder and CEO of HEROS, said: “HEROS is both honoured and extremely grateful to have been chosen by the Betting and Gaming Council as one of the charities chosen to benefit from The Britannia Stakes at Royal Ascot, a very generous initiative from the bookmakers. A donation of this kind is hugely important and significant to HEROS, it allows us to continue to build and grow the innovative and essential work we do in both retraining and rehoming of former racehorses and development of the HEROS Education programme offering unique and bespoke learning to students from 11yo upwards.  

“Since 2006, HEROS has rehomed and retrained 100’s of former racehorses, finding them new and happy lives after their racing days. HEROS Education, started in 2015, with grant funding from The Racing Foundation and is an alternative to school provision for SEN students, who are not thriving in a mainstream school environment. We currently welcome up to 60 students per week and are currently working hard on expanding our facilities to further meet the demand of the many SEN students in our area.”