Racecourses still need to convince the BHB

Britain's racecourses, the majority of whom yesterday provisionally signed over their media rights to the Go Racing consortium, now have eight weeks in which to convince the British Horseracing Board (BHB) that the deal will benefit the industry rather than tying its hands in future levy-replacement talks.

Go Racing comprises Channel 4, Sky and Arena, the multiple racetrack owner and budding online operator. Their £400 million ten-year bid for racing's rights last night reached its designated threshhold when its terms were accepted by 32 of Britain's 59 courses - enough to represent over 71 per cent of betting turnover.

Final contracts will be distributed in the next 24 hours for signature by next Friday. Christopher Stoddart, chief executive of Go Racing, reiterated the consortium's commitment to signing up as many more of the remaining tracks as possible to achieve "the best solution for British racing".

But the deal also remains partly conditional on achieving access to the BHB's pre-race data by the end of next month. Yet the BHB holds grave concerns on whether the sport's best interests are served by the existing wording of the Go Racing contract.