Sky Sports Racing (formerly At The Races) is a British pay television channel devoted primarily to horse racing. A joint venture between Sky Group and Arena Racing Company, it broadcasts coverage of domestic, European and international horse racing events. The channel also broadcasts some greyhound racing.
 Logo used since 2020 | |
| Broadcast area | United Kingdom Ireland |
|---|---|
| Programming | |
| Picture format | 1080i HDTV |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Sky Group/Arena Racing Company |
| History | |
| Launched | 1 May 2002 (original) 11 June 2004 (relaunch) |
| Closed | 29 March 2004 (original) |
| Former names | At The Races (2002–2019) |
| Links | |
| Website | www.skysports.com/racing |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| At The Races Player | Watch live |
In January 2019, after previously operating autonomously from its sisters, the channel was re-launched as part of the Sky Sports family of channels.
History
edit
It was originally launched on 1 May 2002 as Attheraces,[1] a partnership between the aforementioned entities plus Channel Four Television Corporation. It stopped broadcasting on 29 March 2004[2][3] due to financial problems but, after restructuring, was relaunched on 11 June 2004[4] without Channel Four.[citation needed]
On 30 April 2018, it was announced that At The Races would be relaunched as part of the larger Sky Sports portfolio as Sky Sports Racing by the end of the year. With the relaunch, the channel will have wider distribution within Sky Sports' packages, and availability on mobiles through Sky Go.[5] The rebranding occurred 1 January 2019.[6][7] In April 2018 it was announced Chester Race Company had signed a 10-year deal to bring Live Racing from Bangor-On-Dee and Chester to Sky Sports Racing from March 2019 In July 2018, it was also announced that beginning also in March 2019, it would also hold rights to Ascot.[8] The "At The Races" brand name however, remains in use as a website and on the channel's Twitter page, complete with a new logo.
Programming
editThe channel starts broadcasting at 9 am every day. In the mornings on the hour, Racing News is shown, followed by reviews of previous days racing. This format is repeated several times and updated with interviews. Presenters change over in the early afternoon and the lead presenter is joined by a guest to discuss the afternoon's racing. Until 1 January 2019, it was produced at the SIS broadcast facility in Milton Keynes. It is now produced from the newly automated Studio G at Sky Campus in Isleworth.[9]
- Racing Review
- The Racing Debate
- Get In
- Raceday Live
- Sky Sports Racing Stateside
- Australian Racing
Presenters
edit- Robert 'Sir Bob' Cooper – On-course reporter
- Sean 'Boycie' Boyce – Studio presenter
- Matt Chapman – Studio presenter and on-course reporter. Also works for ITV Racing
- Darrell Williams – Studio presenter
- Anthony 'Enzo' Ennis – Studio presenter and commentator
- Luke Harvey – Occasional studio work (mainly Get In! (with Jason Weaver) and on-course reporter. Also works for ITV racing
- John Hunt – Studio presenter (also BBC Radio 5Live commentator)
- Simon Mapletoft – Occasional studio presenter and on-course reporter
- Jason Weaver – Studio presenter and on-course reporter. Also works for ITV racing
- Mike Cattermole – Studio presenter and commentator. Occasional on-course reporter (was also formerly a presenter for Channel 4 Racing)
- Zoey Bird – On-course reporter
- Alex Hammond – Studio presenter and on-course reporter
- Derek 'Tommo' Thompson – Studio presenter (was also formerly a presenter/commentator for Channel 4 Racing) and race commentator
- Hayley Moore - On-course reporter, younger sister of Ryan Moore
- Aly Vance - Studio presenter
- Kieran O'Sullivan - Studio presenter
- Hayley Turner - Jockey
- Martin Kelly – Studio presenter and occasional on-course reporter
- Jim McGrath – Reporter (was also formerly the BBC's main commentator)
- Mick Fitzgerald – On-Course reporter. Also works for ITV Racing
- Gina Bryce – Studio presenter and on-course reporter (was also formerly a presenter for Channel 4 Racing)
- Tim Caroll - Studio presenter
- John Blance - Studio presenter and race commentator
- Vanessa Ryle - On-course reporter
- Leonna Mayor - On-course reporter
- Rob Crawford - Greyhound Commentator
Courses
editThe partner racecourses are:
References
edit- ^ Wood, Greg (13 February 2003). "Attheraces fights for future". TheGuardian.com. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
- ^ Evans, Richard (21 September 2005). "Top 30 tracks launch £213m claim against ATR". The Telegraph. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
- ^ Wood, Greg (25 March 2004). "Atthereaces reaches end of the road". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
- ^ Shelley, Darren (21 May 2004). "Attheraces to relaunch in June". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
- ^ Wood, Greg (30 April 2018). "Sky Sports Racing has plenty going for it in two-horse race with Racing UK". the Guardian. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
- ^ Mann, Colin (6 December 2018). "Sky Sports Racing: Jan 1st Starter's Orders". advanced-television.com. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
- ^ Imi, Matthew (6 December 2018). "Sky Sports Racing will deliver new prospects for horseracing". SBC News. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
- ^ "Ascot to be live on new Sky Sports Racing channel from 2019". Sky Sports. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
- ^ Lambert, Laura (8 January 2019). "Laura Lambert on Twitter: "Interesting developments in racing broadcasting"". Archived from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2019.