New Sky package for Irish racing

Racing: The original start off date of February 24th appears unlikely but Irish racing is set to reappear on the Sky digital package in the spring.

The Association of Irish Racecourses' decision to extend their agreement with SIS has opened the door to the return of a new specialised racing channel that will include coverage of every race meeting in the country.

The closure of the old Racing Channel last January had been preceded a month earlier by the disappearance of free pictures of Irish racing. Since then Horse Racing Ireland had proposed a number of options including the setting up of their own dedicated channel but now the way is clear for the start of a revamped Racing Channel. However a monthly fee of €20 is likely.

"February 24th was the original starting date but I understand there is a slight delay. However, it should be there or thereabouts," said the HRI chief executive Brian Kavanagh yesterday.

"The issue of a specialised channel presented problems in terms of volume of product. Ireland races only 246 of the 365 days of the year so in those terms, and with a service provider doing the production, we felt this was the best option," he added.

The proposal was passed by the HRI board before going to AIR who had previously expressed concerns about the old channel and its impact on racecourse attendances.

However, the AIR chief executive Paddy Walsh said yesterday: "There has been speculation regarding attendances and we do have some slight concerns on that score. But overall we felt the security of financing into the future and the exposure such coverage will give to racing here outweighed those concerns. We have extended our agreement with SIS to 2007 and part of that deal will allow SIS provide Irish pictures to the new channel."