Channel 4 Racing boss John Fairley yesterday quickly scotched any suggestion that coverage of racing will suffer following the news that the channel have gained the rights to cover Test cricket from next year.

Speaking at Newmarket where the network were covering the opening day of the Champions Day meeting, Fairley, chairman of Highflyer Productions, producers of Channel 4 Racing, said: "They don't cover many sports at Channel 4, but when they do, they cover them properly.

"All along they have given us an absolute assurance that racing will be fully protected. Indeed, we are expecting that there may be some increases in racing coverage quite shortly."

Fairley is encouraged by the fact that Channel 4 have reinforced their commitment to sport in general.

"It will make the channel even more prominent and attractive to people who are interested in sport.

"There are obviously clashes in dates but I am not expecting any deleterious effect on racing, even on those days.

"I am not up to speed on the actual detail but I think you can be absolutely sure that there will be no negative effect on racing.

"There will be no diminution in the Derby coverage, for example."