The richest all-weather raceday in Europe and the Channel 4 U-Turn

After having received widespread praise for the inaugural staging of the All-Weather Championships Finals Day at Lingfield Park, racing's sole terrestrial television station has now picked up the gauntlet.to broadcast the 2015 All-Weather Championships Finals Day on Good Friday.

This decision is very much at odds with their stance last year stating that Good Friday is a family day and that they had no interest in broadcasting Horse Racing on a Good Friday.

Jamie Aitchison, Channel 4 commissioning editor for sport, said: "After the success of last year's launch, we are delighted to bring the 2015 All-Weather Championships Finals Day for the first time to terrestrial viewers.

With £1 million in prize-money across the card up for grabs, the richest all-weather race day in Europe will be held on April 3. The build-up to All-Weather Championships Final Day starts in October and consists of over 200 fixtures at Kempton, Lingfield, Southwell and Wolverhampton.

With no news yet from Chelmsford City (formerly Great Leighs) as to whether they have won over the BHA for 2015 fixtures, and with the Newcastle turf being ripped up in favour of an All Weather surface, I am sure it wont be long before Trainers north of Wolverhampton will be making the request to get in on the act.  

Tony Kelly, managing director for Arena Racing Company, which owns Lingfield said: "After only their first year the All-Weather Championships are already making a positive impact on raising the profile and prestige of all-weather racing in Great Britain and The ARC team is absolutely delighted Channel 4 will be showing the All-Weather Championships £1 million Finals Day next year. "We are eager to get started on 'Year Two' and look forward to both Channel 4 and At The Races continuing to do a fantastic job of showcasing racing across ARC's racecourses as we seek to promote and grow British racing in the years ahead."