10 Top Sporting Media Personalities compete for charity

Sportingbet #BeTheStud Final Field Announced

Sportingbet South Africa is proud to announce the Final Field for their Unofficial Durban July 14th Race. These 10 worthy adversaries will take to the track on 3 July in a hashtag-driven virtual horserace, where for about an hour at noon they will entice their followers to tweet & retweet their horse’s #Name and #BeTheStud in order to drive their horse towards the number of mentions they need to win the race. The top 3 horses will win R10, 000, R3, 500 and R1, 500 respectively for their selected charities.

“We are very lucky to have secured such high-profile names for Sportingbet’s Unofficial Durban July 14th Race,” says Scott Canny, Marketing Manager of Sportingbet. “We hope that the public helps them to support these worthy causes.”

The final field has some strong favourites, #RedFury and #BallzToTheWallz appear to be clear forerunners purely based on the number of followers they have, which in theory would mean that they would get the highest number of mentions. However, much as in the Durban July, the Unofficial 14th Race is a ‘handicapped’ race, but opposed to carrying actual weights, the runners will be handicapped by the number of mentions needed to win the race. So those with the most followers will have to reach a higher number of mentions than those with fewer followers, to ensure they all stand a fair chance to win and support their charity of choice.

“There is also always the chance of an underdog. Our personalities have incredibly strong relationships and interaction with their followers,” says Canny, “Active participation with 5,000 followers can easily outstrip average participation with 50,000. It will be up to the runners to get their followers participating in order to win the money for their charity.”

For the formal Durban July on 6 July this year Sportingbet SA is running a Pick 8 competition with the incredible prize of R1 million. The person who can pick the finishing order of the top 8 horses in the Durban July stands to win the prize. If no one gets it right the closest pick (the most horses in the correct finishing places) wins R10, 000. The competition is open and entry is free but you need to have a FICA verified Sportingbet account in order for your entry to be valid.

“The Unofficial 14th Race supporters can also get in on the action,” says Canny. “As a nod to the Pick 8 competition, our supporters will have the opportunity to win R1, 000. They will need to pick the ‘horses’ that will come first, second and third on 3 July in our virtual race to be entered into a random draw to win the money.”

“For a look at the ‘runners’ for the Unofficial 14th Race, be sure to check them out on Twitter on 27 June, when they will be performing their own version of ‘the gallops’ in the final pre-race mimicking of the Durban July,” says Canny. “Choose your favourite and be sure to support them all the way. On race day you will be able to watch the status of your ‘horse’ live as they make their way to the finish line.”

To follow or be a part of the #BeTheStud campaign, check out the Sportingbet #BeTheStud website. You can also head to our Facebook Page or follow us on Twitter @SportingbetSA. To place your bets and stand a chance to win the Pick 8 competition, head to the Sportingbet Website.