Champion prize now 100,000 pounds

THE FIELD for next year's Champion Hurdle will be competing for total prize money of more than pounds 150,000, it was disclosed yesterday. For the first time, the winner will earn over pounds 100,000 for its connections.

Sponsorship of the Cheltenham race by the Jefferson Smurfit Group has been extended to the end of the century. In the new agreement, a 25 per cent increase in prize money for the Champion Hurdle has been secured. The group initially agreed a three-year sponsorship of the race in 1991 but will now be linked with it for at least another seven.