Lockinge prize swells by 64 per cent as Al Shaqab step in to support Newbury Newbury Racecourse received a huge shot in the arm on Wednesday when it was announced that Al Shaqab's first venture into sponsorship in Britain will be to back the whole card on Lockinge day, with the Group One mile increasing 64 per cent in value from £214,000 to £350,000. The card will also be strengthened by taking the Fillies Trial Stakes and Carnarvon Stakes from the Friday, where they clash with the last day of York's May meeting, as well as creating a £50,000 six furlong juvenile event and a £40,000 mile handicap. All in all prize-money on the day will worth £750,000, an increase of 125 per cent. "It is just what Newbury needed," said the course's chief executive Julian Thick. The course is going to be a work in progress for some while but the crowds are up, we've invested £1.25 in new stables, there's massive investment going on and we're very positive about the future. What it needed was a really high profile Flat day. It's great for us, it's great for British racing. Harry Herbert, Prince Joaan's racing manager at Al Shaqab, said finding a whole and meaningful day's racing for an ambitious and generous sponsor had not been easy and he added that, although some great horses like Frankel and Brigadier Gerard had won the Lockinge, the race had taken a bit of a kicking of late. "This puts it up there with top mile races and the other races will compliment it," he said. It's for a five years and it's all about longevity. Al Shaqab and Prince Joaan are in it for the long haul. At the announcement Herbert also presented a cheque to Jack Berry for £500,000 for "The house that Jack Built" - the Injured Jockeys" Fund's northern equivalent of Oaksey House which should be open for business in February. The total was all the prize-money won by 20 Al Shaqab horses during 2014 including Olympic Glory's £120,000 for winning the Lockinge Stakes.