A HORSERACING TV channel is eagerly waiting to see if Great Leighs racecourse will be granted fixtures this week so it can reopen.
If successful, At The Races, which is co-owned by TV giant Sky, will broadcast all the races after agreeing a deal with new owners MC Racetracks earlier this month.
The broadcaster added that without the 74 floodlights, which the course was given permission to use last month by Chelmsford City Council, it would still have signed the deal.
At The Races chief executive Matthew Imi said he was excited at the prospect of working with the Great Leighs chiefs.
"Great Leighs has huge potential, both in the domestic and international marketplace and we very much support them in their endeavours to start racing again," he said.
"They will offer high-quality, year-round flat racing and we believe that this will yet again prove to be a highly attractive venue for owners and trainers.
"When you combine this with the progressive and ambitious thinking of the management team and the enthusiastic patronage of those living within their catchment area, it really should be a recipe for success."
At The Races, which delivers pictures from 27 UK racecourses and 26 Irish racecourses, will broadcast the Essex meetings to betting shops as far as India and the Far East.
Marketing director James Singer said the fixture list would prove attractive as it will "fill their gaps".
The 41-year-old director said: "They're likely to have a very attractive set of fixtures because it's all-weather racing, adaptable to certain times of the week.
"With floodlight entertainment, we can broadcast when the UK wouldn't otherwise be able to do so. We can fill the gaps in our broadcasting."
Mr Singer admitted that due to the wet weather this year, meetings across the country have been abandoned – something to which Great Leighs will be immune with its all-weather surface.
"The international aspect in order to accommodate different time zones is very important to the market overseas," said Mr Singer, who refused to comment as to whether he thought Great Leighs would be granted fixtures for the 2014 season.
The British Horseracing Authority is expected to make a decision this week.
Great Leighs chairman Keith Brown, 70, said he was very pleased to have made the deal with At The Races.
"Promoting our fixtures to ATR's large and quantifiable domestic broadcast and online audience would enable us to market with great effect the benefits of racing at Great Leighs.
" Their knowledge of, and relationship with, the international customer base is second to none," said the Ingatestone-based horse enthusiast.
Great Leighs Racecourse opened in 2008, becoming the first new track in Britain for 81 years, but went into administration in January 2009.
New owners MC Racetracks had a fresh application for racing denied last year, but will find out imminently whether its latest bid is successful.
