Maktoum bid will ensure C4 racing future

The Maktoum family-owned Dubai Holding will replace totesport as the sponsors of C4 racing next year.

The station have

entered into exclusive

negotiations for a two-year

deal with the company,

whose backing will

ensure their racing

coverage survives.

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Precise figures for the

deal remained secret but

C4 had requested bids in

the region of £4million.

The choice of Dubai

Holding, who control a

diverse range of companies

whose interests

include real estate and

tourism, will be a

surprise to many who

had assumed a new backer would emerge

from the world of bookmaking

or betting

exchanges.

But Racemail revealed

last week that a firm with

Middle East connections bidder.

Their support

means C4 will avoid conflicts

of interests that a

bookmaker backing their

programme would have

caused when showing other bookie-sponsored

races.

The deal includes

80 days per annum of

terrestrial horseracing

coverage and slots during

The Morning Line.

Andrew Thompson,

C4's head of sport, said:

"It is an incredibly exciting

partnership. I am

confident that it will be

positive and successful."

When changes to advertising

rules prompted

totesport to withdraw

their £2.5m backing of C4

in July, C4 insisted they

needed a fresh backer to

subsidise the production

costs associated with

racing.

Among the companies

linked with bids were

Betfair, Boylesport and

SIS.