At The Races (“ATR”) will broadcast the 2018 edition of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships exclusively live in the UK and Ireland, it was announced today. In addition, Sky Sports Racing will broadcast the 2019 and 2020 events exclusively live following the launch of the new HD, dedicated racing channel, as the successor to ATR, in January 2019.

Under a new partnership, ATR/Sky Sports Racing will have exclusive UK and Ireland TV broadcast rights to all races from the two-day Championships and will commit significant promotion and coverage to the event and to the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series across their digital and social media assets, including hosting another dedicated microsite on attheraces.com, the UK and Ireland’s largest racing website.

The 2018 Breeders’ Cup World Championships will feature 14 races (13 Grade 1 events) offering more than $30 million in prize money and awards. The event will be staged this year at Churchill Downs, Louisville, Kentucky on November 2nd and 3rd.

Sky Sports Racing (ATR in 2018) will have exclusive on-site track access and filming rights amongst UK TV broadcasters at all three Breeders’ Cup events.

ATR will report exclusively from on course and behind the scenes at Churchill Downs in 2018 and will broadcast live using NBC’s feed and acclaimed coverage of the event.

Matthew Imi, Chief Executive, At The Races said:

“We’re delighted to have extended our long-term relationship with the Breeders’ Cup for another three years. The event speaks for itself in terms of its profile and position within racing on the global stage. We’re also excited about how we can help tell the story on Sky Sports Racing and leverage the considerable might of Sky Sports, Sky Sports News and Sky Sports’ digital platforms in terms of further support.”

Craig Fravel, President and CEO, Breeders’ Cup Limited said:

“ATR has provided excellent coverage of the Breeders’ Cup for many years and we are very pleased to extend our partnership. The UK & Ireland are important markets for us particularly with our recent addition of four Royal Ascot races to the “Win and You’re In” Challenge Series, so we are excited about the opportunities ahead with Sky Sports and Sky Sports Racing.”

About Sky Sports Racing

Sky Sports Racing is the successor channel to At The Races and will be produced at Sky’s studios in Osterley alongside all other Sky Sports channels. It will launch in full HD on or before January 1st, 2019 and become the eleventh Sky Sports channel. Sky Sports Racing will raise the bar in terms of production and presentation standards associated with the daily coverage of horse racing in the UK. Sky Sports Racing and its content will benefit from the power and resource of Sky and Sky Sports across a full range of channels, products and digital platforms reaching millions of sports fans.

About At The Races

At The Races is a joint venture between Sky, Arena Racing Company and other racecourses. Broadcasting 24 hours a day, ATR is available to over 14 million multi-channel homes across the UK and Ireland through Sky and Virgin Media. attheraces.com is the UK and Ireland’s leading racing website and attracts up to 2 million monthly unique users (Google Analytics) and operates its own odds comparison and integrated betting services. The ATR app commands an average iTunes rating of 4.7 stars and was the first in the UK to offer detailed form and archive video replays. Sport Mediastream is ATR’s wholly owned video streaming division. It serves around 10 million live event streams each month for ATR’s domestic and international rights holder partners.

About Breeders’ Cup

The Breeders’ Cup administers the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing’s year-end Championships. The Breeders’ Cup also administers the Breeders’ Cup Challenge qualifying series, which provides automatic starting positions into the Championships races. The 2018 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, consisting of 14 races (13 Grade 1 events) with purses and awards totaling more than $30 million, will be held November 2-3 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., and will be televised live by the NBC Sports Group. Breeders’ Cup press releases appear on the Breeders’ Cup website, www.breederscup.com. You can also follow the Breeders’ Cup on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.