Racing: Attheraces goes off the air

A horse named Sorbiesharry made his own bit of history when winning the last race at Wolverhampton yesterday. It marked the closure of Attheraces, the racing channel set up two years ago in a £307m deal covering 49 of Britain's courses.

Greg Nichols, the British Horseracing Board chief executive, said yesterday he anticipated British racing would soon be back on screen in the form of a dedicated channel. But the BHB communications director, Alan Delmonte, warned that the new channel could be only an aspiration at this stage.

Except in betting shops, the next racing to be televised in Britain will be Aintree, which begins on Thursday and has BBC coverage.