RANDOX has reached agreement with The Jockey Club for a five-year extension to its sponsorship of the world’s most famous race, the Grand National, and of the three-day Grand National Festival staged at Aintree.

The new agreement will run from 2022-2026, following on from the existing five-year deal which runs until next year. This 10-year sponsorship will be the second-longest partnership in the history of the Grand National which was first run in 1839.

As well as retaining headline naming rights for the three-day Festival, Randox will continue to sponsor all three races over the iconic Grand National fences; the Randox Foxhunters Chase on Liverpool’s NHS Day, the Randox Topham Chase on Ladies Day, and the iconic Randox Grand National on the final day.

As the largest healthcare diagnostics company in Ireland and the UK, Randox undertakes research, development, manufacture and distribution of innovative laboratory tests and analysers.

In 2019 Randox manufactured more than four billion tests and was active in 145 countries. The company employs more than 2,000 staff, including more than 450 research scientists and engineers, with key facilities located in Co Antrim and Co Donegal.

Randox focuses on the provision of comprehensive, accurate and timely testing in order to identify risk to health, improve clinical diagnoses and promote preventative healthcare; aiming to achieve better healthcare outcomes whilst reducing the burden on clinical services.

In early 2020 Randox recognised the threat from Covid-19 and, based on almost 40 years of diagnostic experience, quickly developed a test to accurately identify the virus. Testing at scale commenced within weeks to support both the UK’s National Testing Programme and private clients.

In March 2020, the company was processing 150 Covid-19 tests a day, but through investment and the enormous effort of its staff, Randox has been able to boost its laboratory testing capacity to process 90,000 Covid-19 samples per day for the UK Government’s National COVID-19 Testing Programme, making it the most productive laboratory in the UK and Ireland, and amongst the largest in Europe. It anticipates this climbing to 100,000 daily tests.

Looking forward

Speaking this week about the extended sponsorship deal, Randox’s founder and managing director Dr Peter FitzGerald CBE said: “We have thoroughly enjoyed working with The Jockey Club’s team at Aintree and look forward to another successful five years, when we are once again able to come together to celebrate the Randox Grand National.

“This terrible pandemic has increased understanding of the importance of diagnostics and testing across our society. As a company founded with the ultimate aim of saving lives, we will work hard to convert that better understanding into the improvement of people’s health in the future.”

Noting how the Grand National will now be known as the Randox Grand National from 2021 with ‘Health’ being removed from the name, Dr FitzGerald added: “2020 has been a year of massive change and Randox has been at the forefront of countering the greatest pandemic to sweep these islands in 100 years. As a result, we are comfortable that our core company name is now synonymous with ‘health’, so are very happy to combine with Aintree to rebrand the world’s greatest steeplechase as, more succinctly, ‘the Randox Grand National’.

“We are excited for this new era of our partnership, of horseracing and of society – in which Covid-19 has taught us to appreciate the important things in life – our friends, our family, and our health. We very much look forward to the next five years.”

Expansion of testing sites in Ireland

IN November a €99 Express Covid-19 testing service was launched at Dublin airport.

The new service resulted in the creation of 50 new jobs. The testing service from Randox utilises a robust and reliable method of testing known as PCR, which Minister of State for International and Road Transport and Logistics, Hildegarde Naughton TD, described as “the gold standard” for travel testing.

The launch of the Randox Health Travel Centre, which offers rapid next day delivery of results for pre-departure screening as well as on-arrival testing to reduce quarantine time, came just after Ireland aligned itself with the new EU ‘traffic light’ system to co-ordinate international travel in early November.

Sophie Boyd, project manager for the service said: “With the introduction of the new EU traffic lights system, some people need a Covid-19 test before travelling or equally, will want a negative test result simply for their peace of mind.

“We were delighted to have secured a location at Dublin Airport. It allows us to extend our rapid and reliable Covid-19 testing service, already used by a range of companies, airlines and elite sporting organisations, to individual passengers and consumers.”

The Irish Government has agreed that while those arriving from red zones have to quarantine for 14 days, this can be reduced following a negative result from a Covid-19 PCR test taken five days after arrival in Ireland.

Requirements

“Travel requirements during the pandemic continue to evolve, but with the introduction of the EU traffic light system, a common prerequisite to travel or to shorten existing quarantine periods is a negative PCR Covid-19 test, which is currently the only method of such testing recognised and approved worldwide. We are committed to providing the most cost-effective and accurate test in the market to assist with the ultimate normalisation of travel,” Sophie said.

The service is now available at a number of other venues on the island, including Leopardstown, in Holywood, Co Down, and in Limerick, Cork, Galway and Sligo.

The Randox €99 Express Covid-19 testing service is open to all asymptomatic individuals, whether travelling or not, and operates from the Randox Health Travel Centre beside Terminal 2. To avail of the service at any of the centres in Ireland, just visit booking.randox.ie to secure your appointment.

Winners of the Randox-sponsored Grand National

RANDOX took on the sponsorship of the Grand National at Aintree in 2017 and the winner of the race that year was the Lucinda Russell-trained One For Arthur. The following two years saw the Gordon Elliott-trained, Gigginstown House-owned Tiger Roll put his stamp on the race, but sadly he was unable to establish an unprecedented record when the race had to be abandoned in 2020.