Cape Town - After a sponsorship of 39 years the local distributor of J&B whiskey has announced that it will no longer continue its sponsorship of the J&B Met in Cape Town.

Diageo SA, formally known as brandhouse, is the local distributor of J&B whiskey and said in a statement on Friday that the J&B brand has invested significant resources to ensure the staging of "this prestigious horseracing event".

In the view of Diageo the J&B Met has, over time, grown to become one of South Africa’s "grandest social occasions" and the country’s longest-standing sports sponsorship.