Qatar in Derby sponsor frame

The Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club today emerged as a potential sponsor for the Epsom Derby in June.

Vodafone stepped in to sponsor last year's Derby on a one-off basis after its deal, which saw them back the race for 13 years, ran out.

Nick Blofeld, managing director of Epsom, confirmed that he had been in discussions with the QREC, which runs racing in the Emirate. He said: "There certainly seems to be a little bit of interest out there. Ideally they might be interested in taking the whole title sponsorship but we're in discussions with a number of parties and hopefully one of them will come to fruition."

QREC general manager Sami Jassim al-Boenain said: "We have a proposal from the Derby organisers and are studying the offer."