Sky Bet sponsor Lowther

Sky Bet are the new sponsors of the Group Two Lowther Stakes at York's Ebor Festival in August.

The sponsorship deal has been signed for an initial period of three years and extends Sky Bet's significant sponsorship portfolio, which also includes the Group Two Sky Bet York Stakes and the valuable Sky Bet Dash Handicap, both of which take place at York's meeting towards the end of July.

Run over six furlongs with a prize fund of £200,000, the Sky Bet Lowther Stakes is for two-year-old fillies and often provides a significant pointer to further success. This year's renewal takes place on Thursday, August 18, day two of the Welcome To Yorkshire Ebor Festival.

First staged in 1946, the Sky Bet Lowther Stakes commemorates the Hugh Lowther, the fifth Earl of Lonsdale, who was popularly known as "The Yellow Earl". The fifth Earl of Lonsdale had a wide range of sporting interests including racing, hunting, athletics, shooting, yachting and boxing, in which he introduced the famous Lonsdale belts won by British boxing champions. The best racehorses to carry his colours were the 1922 St Leger winner Royal Lancer and the high-class sprinter Myrobella.

Six fillies have won the Sky Bet Lowther Stakes before going on to take the first fillies' Classic, the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, the following season - Pourparler (1963), Humble Duty (1969), Enstone Spark (1977), Harayir (1994), Cape Verdi (1997) and Russian Rhythm (2002). The contest is also often a major pointer to the Group One Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket in the autumn, with five fillies completing the double this century, most recently Tiggy Wiggy in 2014.

Michael Shinners, Racing PR Manager at Sky Bet said: "Sky Bet's sponsorship at York stretches back well over a decade and we are delighted to add the Lowther Stakes to our sponsorship portfolio for at least the next three years.

"The roll of honour for the Sky Bet Lowther Stakes speaks for itself and we are very excited to be associated with such a prestigious contest."

James Brennan, Head of Marketing and Sponsorship at York Racecourse, added: "York is delighted to be extending our already successful partnership with Sky Bet which will now cover four days of our high season in July and August.

"They have backed the Group Two Sky Bet York Stakes since its creation and are now supporters of a long established Group Two at the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival, in the Sky Bet Lowther.

"Innovations such as the Ebor Preview Evening or the understanding that marked a Top Jockey title that remembered journalist, Ray Gilpin, are typical of their approach and we look forward to the years ahead."