Press Box PR and Betfair set Three Lions on the path to World Cup glory as England win the Betfair Race to the World Cup Stakes

Press Box PR, the fast-growing digital PR agency staffed by former journalists, has teamed up with Betfair to create a world first to predict the winner of this year’s World Cup - the Betfair Race to the World Cup Stakes. 

The specially organised horse race was staged at Haydock Park Racecourse on Saturday and featured six runners, representing the top teams in the betting vying for World Cup glory. Emerging victorious in the hands of leading female jockey Bryony Frost were England in what many will hope is a lucky omen for Gareth Soutgate’s side as they kick-off their bid to finally bring football home against Iran on Monday.

Press Box PR worked with Betfair to stage the contest with the brief to celebrate the brand’s sponsorship of the Betfair Chase, one of the leading races of the National Hunt season, and drive brand fame on the eve of the World Cup kick-off. 

The Betfair Race to the World Cup Stakes featured a field of six horses representing the teams most likely to lift the World Cup trophy according to the latest betting. The five-furlong dash saw England power home late under Frost to land the inaugural race, seeing off strong competition from rivals representing Brazil, France, Argentina, Spain and Germany. 

The victory was shown by the ITV1 cameras, with former England manager and Betfair ambassador Glen Hoddle on hand for the trophy presentation in the winners’ enclosure. The race was supported by the Professional Jockeys Association, Jockey Club and British Horseracing Authority. Betfair donated £10,000 to leading racing charity, the Injured Jockeys Fund, on behalf of the owners, trainers and jockeys who contributed to make the race possible. 

Alex Donohue, Press Box PR Founder & Managing Director, said: “Press Box PR has a history of working with Betfair to use horse racing to predict the outcome of major global events. Our hugely successful Race to the White House Stakes activation around the US presidential election two years ago proves our course and distance form. 

‍“But the Race to the World Cup Stakes was our biggest multi-channel campaign yet. It was a huge honour for us as an agency to create a genuine world first that delivered standout owned and earned presence for Betfair across social, p rint and broadcast. Like so many of us, I was delighted to see Bryony Frost surge to victory and hope we’ve given the Three Lions the perfect tonic to bring it home in Qatar over the coming weeks.”

Press Box PR is a 20-strong digital PR agency founded in 2018 by former Ladbrokes PR lead, Alex Donohue. It specialises in PR for SEO, sponsorship activation and creative communications servicing the sport, gaming, consumer, finance and technology sectors. The agency is uniquely staffed by former senior editors and online journalists from a host of the world’s leading global publishers, including News UK, Reach, Mail Online and Yahoo, earning the reputation as the ‘PR agency for journalists by journalists’. 

For more information on Press Box PR please contact:

Jack Mansell

Director

E: jack.mansell@pressboxpr.co.uk 

M: + 44 7765 254460