A FORMER Emmerdale actor will swap the farm for the racecourse when he lends his name to a popular County Durham horse race tomorrow (Thursday, February 21).

Frazer Hines, who played Joe Sugden in the long running ITV series from 1972 to 1994, is sponsoring the Frazer Hines and John O’Loan Handicap Steeple Chase for the Glenugie Ingham Cup at Sedgefield Racecourse’s jumps meeting.

The race is one of seven line-ups to be run during the raceday, which kicks off at 2.10pm and is the first to go ahead since January 11, with the last two race meetings having to be cancelled due to bad weather.

Mr Hines said: “I have spent many happy days at Sedgefield. It is my favourite course and I enjoyed a few winners here.”

Another new sponsor for 2013 is Steeltips.com – a website that offers daily sporting tips from around the world.

Regular sponsor Weatherbys is also supporting the event.

For more information or to buy tickets, visit sedgefield-racecourse.co.uk or call 01740-621925.