The Racing Post is a horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting newspaper. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday and as of December 2008, it has an average daily circulation of 60,629 copies. It is the UK and Ireland’s leading daily horse racing newspaper. 


History of the Racing Post

The paper was founded on 15th April 1986 by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is the Prime Minister and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai. Sheikh Mohammed is a major international figure in the world of thoroughbred horse racing and breeding and he owns numerous studs and stables in the UK. Originally, the newspaper only produced editions on weekdays. However, with the advent of Sunday horse racing in 1995, the Racing Post began to also print an edition on Sunday if there were scheduled race fixtures. The newspaper is now printed every day of the year, with the exception of Christmas day. Historic Newspapers has a large number of Racing Post back issues available, letting you find an original copy of the newspaper from the date of your choice.

The Racing Post was set up as a rival to the Sporting Life newspaper, which had been the UK’s main sporting paper since 1859. Sporting Life was owned by Mirror Group Newspapers and in 1998 they purchased the licence to run the Racing Post from Sheikh Mohammed for one pound. The last edition of Sporting Life was printed on 12th May 1998, as the two newspapers merged together.

On 1st October 2007, the Irish investment group Festina Lente paid £170 million to Trinity Mirror, owners of Mirror Group Newspapers, for the Racing Post licence. Festina Lente are still the current owners the newspaper. Sheikh Mohammed maintains an association with the Racing Post, as he continues to hold the trademark.

The Racing Post focuses solely upon horse racing at the front end of the newspaper. Coverage includes racing headlines, previews and reports, latest news, columns, features, tipping, bloodstock, cards, form and statistics, greyhounds and sport. The Racing Post journalists update their readers on all matters of events related to horse riding, including a trainer retiring, an injury announcement or other news that is relevant to an upcoming big race. The newspaper incorporates previews of the next day’s racing action and there’s a Talk Of The Tracks section discussing every afternoon meeting. In addition to general sport headlines and articles, the newspaper provides various betting odds. Race cards are also a key part of the newspaper, since they provide information about the trainer, jockey, owners, form, age, weight, rating, breeding, saddle cloth number and much more. All the runners are highlighted in full colour to make them easy to identify. 

 

racing post


Other Sports

Racing Post goes beyond simply reporting on horse riding by including a section on other popular sports, letting sports fanatics find more information from one publication. The back pages of the newspaper are reserved for news on the other major sports, such as football, cricket, rugby, tennis, golf, snooker and darts. The Racing Post also produces an annual Bloodstock Review magazine, which is supplied with the newspaper in December and provides the definitive guide to what has happened in the bloodstock world each year. The Racing Post has also developed a mobile app that allows users to place bets through the app and betting partners, and was highly commended for the Grand Prix award at the Newsawards in 2016. 

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