The UK horseracing industry is seeking to give prestigious events such as the Derby a profile as big as Wimbledon, with a major flat racing marketing initiative backed by a £10m annual pot of prize money.
However, the BBC and Channel 4, which currently share live coverage of the 10 flat races that will form the new Sovereign Series, will have to re-bid for a bundled package of rights when the marketing initiative launches in two years' time.
From 2010, the 10-race Sovereign Series - including top flat racing fixtures such as BGC Sussex Stakes at Goodwood and the Stan James 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket - will be marketed separately from the sport's other events with broadcasters having to bid for media rights as a package.
The Sovereign Series will be backed by £10m each season in prize money, based on points awarded according to a horse's placing in each race. The launch of the initiative is also being backed with an annual £3m marketing and promotion budget.
An overall winner will be crowned champion flat racehorse for the season, with £2m in prize money.
The Sovereign Series will run for an initial three years starting in May 2010 with new live terrestrial broadcast rights and commercial agreements.
Racing UK, the media rights company representing the seven courses, is responsible for handling the broadcast and multimedia rights deals.
The BBC currently broadcasts the Derby at Epsom, the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot, and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.
The remaining seven events are broadcast on Channel 4, including the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot, the Juddmonte Lockinge Stakes at Newbury, and the Stan James 2,000 Guineas.
Channel 4 also shows the Coral Eclipse at Sandown, the Juddmonte International at York, and the Emirates Airline Champion Stakes at Newmarket and the BGC Sussex Stakes.
"Horseracing is one of Britain's great sports but is faced with increasing competition from other sports and leisure activities, so racing needs to evolve and appeal to a wider audience," said Simon Bazalgette, the executive chairman of Racing UK.
"Our vision is that, in five years, the Sovereign Series will have become established as a major sports competition on the British calendar alongside Wimbledon, The Open and other similar events," he added.
Bazalgette said that pooling the 10 events into one series would "create a new proposition for broadcasters and sponsors".
Charles Barnett, the chief executive of Ascot, said: "The Sovereign Series is an exciting initiative both in terms of widening public awareness of the best that flat racing has to offer and as a new way of looking at the media rights of the racecourses involved."
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