Sky Sports plot to snatch racing crown jewels and challenge ITV for Cheltenham Festival and Royal Ascot with two dedicated channels

  • Sky Sports are said to be planning a major TV rights raid on horse racing 
  • Sky channel At The Races is set to be re-branded to Sky Sports Racing
  • The strategy is to challenge ITV for the rights to broadcast the top meetings

Sky Sports are said to be planning a major TV rights raid on horse racing with the intention of devoting two dedicated channels to the sport.

Sky are the major shareholders in specialist broadcasters At The Races, which will be re-branded Sky Sports Racing next year or earlier.

Then the believed strategy is to challenge ITV, who have two-and-a-half more years left on their current deal, for the rights to top meetings including the Cheltenham Festival and Royal Ascot.

Sky Sports are said to be planning a major TV rights raid on horse racing to compete with ITV

Sky Sports are said to be planning a major TV rights raid on horse racing to compete with ITV

Martin Cruddace, chief executive of Arena Racing Company, whose racecourses are covered by At The Races, outlined Sky's serious racing ambitions to a group of leading trainers recently.


Sky have the resources to outbid ITV for a contract which costs them around £20m-a-year.

But prime terrestrial coverage and the audience ITV brings is very important to racing authorities. They currently remain committed to ITV, whom they believe have done an excellent job.

 

There is understandable angst inside talkSPORT that lead presenter Alan Brazil was yet again missing from his breakfast show on Thursday, which is being broadcast from his beloved Cheltenham. 

Bon viveur Brazil finding himself in no fit state after a Festival drinking session to turn up for work the following morning has become part of Cheltenham folklore. 

But staff don't like the fact their management never properly discipline booze-obsessed Brazil for his erratic behaviour that no one else on the station would get away with. A talkSPORT spokeswoman said Brazil had been unwell with a sore throat.

Alan Brazil (R), talkSPORT's lead presenter, missed his show after he enjoyed a day at the races

Alan Brazil (R), talkSPORT's lead presenter, missed his show after he enjoyed a day at the races

 

The Football League and Championship side Fulham have agreed to ditch new radio station Love Sport’s perimeter advertising line: ‘More gobby than Carragher’ for their live televised match against QPR tomorrow.

A Football League spokesman said last night that the promotion was ‘wholly inappropriate’ coming so soon after Sky pundit Jamie Carragher’s spitting incident. Sky say that they were not involved in the decision to ban the advert.

 

Best-selling novelist Jilly Cooper, who has paid Sports Agenda the considerable compliment of using the column contents for background material, is doing the hard yards with her research into every aspect of football for her new book Tackle. 

This included travelling to St George's Park to speak to England manager Gareth Southgate and to former Leeds boss Howard Wilkinson.

 

The arch-irritant is back

Matt Chapman, ITV racing's arch-irritant, was missing from the Opening Show preview programme on Thursday because he had lost his voice.

Unfortunately for TV watchers it had returned in time for the afternoon programme.

Publicity-hungry Chapman had been upset at not appearing in this column earlier in the Festival telling me: 'The irritant needs a return.'

 

The secret can be revealed behind golfer Lee Westwood's remarkable number of winning bets at Cheltenham, including a £20,000 jackpot on the first day. Westwood listens to friend and owner Graham Wylie, who doesn't gamble to any extent.

A powerful consortium that includes racehorse owner Alex Frost and former BHA director Eamonn Wilmott taking a 25 per cent stake in bookmaker Fred Done's Tote business, which loses its monopoly pool betting licence in July, is seen as a major challenge to the new exclusive Tote set-up Britbet.

Golfer Lee Westwood's secret to winning bets is by listening to friend and owner Graham Wylie

Golfer Lee Westwood's secret to winning bets is by listening to friend and owner Graham Wylie

Some high-level racing people who have talked to the super-wealthy Alizeti consortium believe Britbet won't even get off the ground.

But Britbet, who have 55 courses signed up compared to Done's Ascot and Chelmsford, are confident they have watertight contracts and there will be no defectors, especially as their rivals cannot operate pools betting on course from July.

 

Only at Cheltenham would you see a racegoer march into the course's Bentley showroom and put down a £125,000 deposit in cash for a racing green special edition Bentley Bentayga with bespoke racing-themed fittings costing £238,000. The anonymous buyer reportedly owns a recycling plant.

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