WIGAN Rugby League Club players are following in the footsteps of their rivals from St Helens with a day out at Haydock Park races to celebrate winning the Challenge Cup.

Manchester United soccer stars also came to the racecourse with manager Sir Alex Ferguson to mark their famous victories in the Champions League, Premiership and FA Cup in the same season.

The meeting for the Wigan players is on Saturday which features one of the richest races of the year at Haydock.

Ironically, it was St Helens who lost to Wigan Warriors in the Challenge Cup final earlier this month at Murrayfield in Edinburgh.

Haydock Park's general manager Adam Waterworth said: "We're delighted to welcome the Wigan team here. They're just a few miles up the road from the racecourse and we are thrilled to help them celebrate their recent success."

Wigan coach Stuart Raper said: "We're really looking forward to our trip to Haydock Park. The players love their horse racing and some of them are keen punters, so it's fantastic to be able to celebrate the Challenge Cup victory at our local racecourse."

Fans will be able to meet players around the parade ring before the first and second races when they will be signing autographs and posing for photographs.

The feature race is the £70,000 Tote Credit Club Silver Bowl - for three year olds - is one of the three most valuable events in Haydock's racing calendar. Only the Stanley Leisure Sprint Cup at the end of the summer and the De Vere Gold Cup in the winter are worth more.

The meeting also features the 'Be Friendly' Handicap and Haydock's second listed race of the flat season. The 'Be Friendly' is named after Sir Peter O'Sullevan's horse that won the race in consecutive years in 1966 and 1967 but was denied the chance of a hat trick because of fog 12 months later.

The former BBC 'voice of racing' gives a challenge trophy to the winning owner every year. The listed race, the Weatherbys Sandy Lane Stakes, completes the trio of races that will be televised on BBC Grandstand.

The first race is due off at 1.20pm. Entry is £7 to the

Newton Enclosure, £13 to Tattersalls, £22 to the County Enclosure, and £35

to the Premier Enclosure on the top floor of the Centenary Grandstand.

Accompanied children under 16 enter free of charge. Senior citizens and

students, with appropriate identification, enter Tattersalls and the Newton

Enclosure at half price.

More details about racing at Haydock are available HERE