Charities gallop off with £46,000 thanks to Sky Bet and York Racecourse

First past the post The Sporting Memories Foundation celebrate £20,000 win - left to right, Trawlerman trainer John Gosden, Chairman of York Racecourse Bridget Guerin, CEO Flutter UK & Ireland Conor Grant , Partnerships Director of The Sporting Memories Foundation Susie Brindley and jockey Frankie Dettori.

Twenty one shortlisted charities were assigned a horse each to run in the Sky Bet Ebor Festival Community Sweepstake.

First past the post, in a nail-biting photo finish, was Frankie Dettori on four-year-old Trawlerman winning a whopping £20,000 first prize for The Sporting Memories Foundation.

VIDEO: Watch the thrilling race on our embedded YouTube post or CLICK HERE.

Leeds Society for Deaf and Blind People won £5,000 second place and coming third was York’s Age UK Keep Your Pet initiative, winning £2,000 – while 19 other charity runners got £1,000 each.

The joint initiative between York Racecourse and Sky Bet was to reward and acknowledge local good causes from across the region.

First prize winner The Sporting Memories Foundation develops and delivers reminiscent, social and inclusive physical activities that improve the mental and physical wellbeing of older people.

Susie Brindley, Partnerships Director of The Sporting Memories Foundation, explained how the win could not be more life-changing.

She said: “We are absolutely thrilled. It was amazing to be shortlisted but to win this amount for our charity in such an exciting finish will not only create many memories but will make such a difference to all of the sports fans we support who are living with dementia, depression, loneliness and any other life limiting condition.

“The £20,000 donation will be used to build up our resources, train more volunteers and support more people who are passionate about sport through reminiscence and activity.

“We would like to thank York Racecourse, Sky Bet, Frankie Dettori who rode a thrilling race, the trainers John and Thady Gosdon and of course Trawlerman.

"All of the 21 other charities in the draw were amazing and we look forward to connecting with them as a result of this great initiative.”

Sky Bet, a leading name in real-time, online sports betting, said The Ebor Festival Community Sweepstake demonstrated how Sky Betting & Gaming is driving positive change on the ground, aligning with a core pillar of Flutter’s Positive Impact Plan to ‘do more’ for local communities.

A spokesperson said: "Sky Bet sets the pace and faces the toughest of digital challenges. Our sites and apps handle 11 million financial transactions every Saturday afternoon and 50 million page content changes every single day.”