Musselburgh is on the money and Channel 4 should recognise that

NEWS that Channel 4 has finally put the BBC’s moribund television coverage of racing out of its misery has been welcomed throughout the sport.

Clare Balding apart, BBC TV’s approach to racing had become almost laughable, with snooker player John Parrott paraded as some kind of betting expert – he made Angus “Statto” Loughran look like an intellectual giant – and more attention paid to celebrities and fashion than the horses. The BBC will still have a presence in the sport. Radio Five live will continue to cover racing and, in Cornelius Lysaght, they have a man who really knows about the sport, not least because he is an owner himself. Geoff Webster on Radio Scotland will also continue to do his useful stuff.

From next year, however, Channel 4 will be the sole terrestrial channel showing racing, and it is surely indicative that they have invested as much as £20 million over four years to be able to show the Derby, Grand National and Royal Ascot, to add to their existing portfolio led by the Cheltenham Festival.

No broadcaster would spend that kind of sum and not put a great deal of effort into promoting the sport.