British operators donate £1.25m in Britannia Stakes profits to charities

Several UK-based charities are set to receive £1.25m of the profits from the Britania Stakes race at Royal Ascot, as part of a fundraising initiative from the country's top operators.

Prostate Cancer UK, Marie Curie, the three Armed Forces charities and Care Radio will all share in the profits that came courtesy of the race, which was won by Peretto, ridden by Oisin Murphy, at 18/1 odds.

Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) members including Flutter Entertainment, Bet365, Entain, William Hill and more agreed to donate the profits earlier this month as part of a fundraising initiative.

BGC chief executive Michael Dugher said: “I am absolutely thrilled by the amount raised by this fantastic initiative at Royal Ascot. This money will make a huge difference to the incredible work done by the charities involved.

“I’d like to thank all the BGC members who took part – as well as their customers who enjoyed a flutter on the race – for their generosity in supporting some really great causes.”

The Britiannia Stakes event is the latest fundraiser from BGC members, after helping the British Greyhound Racing Fund raise £1m earlier this year.

Marie Curie’s head of special events Susan Boissier added: “We’d like to thank the Betting and Gaming Council members for this incredible donation, which enables us to support people across the UK through our frontline nursing and hospice care and support services.

“Our fundraising has been impacted by coronavirus and its thanks to generous initiatives such as this that we are there for people and to help improve everyone’s experience at the end of life.”

Original Article