SPARKLING diamonds and glittering crystal provide extra incentive for victory at Cartmel on Saturday.

The first of the two-day July Barbecue Meeting sees the Cumbria Crystal Cup on offer for the winner of the £25,000 hurdle feature.

And female jockeys will have the chance to take home an 18-carat white gold yellow diamond pendant worth a cool £5,000 in the Banks Lyon Jewellers Lady Riders Handicap Hurdle.

In total, there is close to £80,000 in prize money across the seven races.

The Banks Lyon Hurdle is the most valuable female jockeys race in the country, with a total prize fund of £15,000 and the special prize for the winning jockey, provided by the race sponsor.

Last year’s race proved a real family affair, with the winner Beeno owned by Arthur Slack, trained by his son Kenneth and ridden by his grand-daughter Emma Sayer.

Beeno, who is now trained by Dianne Sayer, is among the entries for this year’s William Hill Cumbria Crystal Cup.

A Banks Lyon spokesman said: “Each year. we thoroughly look forward to returning to Cartmel Racecourse; it gives us the perfect opportunity to connect with customers, both old and new, as well as enjoying the exciting racing.

“We’ve attended and exhibited at multiple Cartmel Race meets for a number of years, but a big highlight is presenting the Lady Riders Handicap Hurdle prize, which is now in its fourth year.

“It is a pleasure to be able to offer a pendant so unique to a deserving jockey at a racecourse that is close to our hearts.”

As well as the excitement of the Banks Lyon ladies race, Saturday also features the prestigious Class 3 Handicap Hurdle race for the Cumbria Crystal Trophy.

William Hill step in to sponsor for the first time in what will be the seventh running of the race, once which has proved tricky for punters in th past, with only one winning favourite in the previous six years, the 2016 winner Eshtiaal trained in Ireland by Gordon Elliott.

Last year, the race proved a local triumph for Cartmel trainer James Moffatt, who won it with the 11/1 shot Altruism ridden by the stable’s conditional jockey Charlotte Jones.