HORSE RACING AND THE BBC

That this House regrets the proposals being discussed by the BBC to reduce the number of days of British horse racing it intends to cover from the present level of 27 days per year to just 13 days by 2010; notes that 10 years ago the BBC covered 79 days of horse racing each year; regrets that the new total will include just three days of national hunt racing and will include no racing coverage between the months of October and April; reminds the BBC that racing is the second biggest spectator sport in the UK; and therefore calls on the BBC, as a major sporting channel, to ensure that racing fans continue to see a significant amount of racing on BBC channels.