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Attheraces.com

Introduction

At The Races originally started off as a television channel, which was established in 2001. The broadcaster aims to provide high-quality racing coverage of some of the most popular meets both within the United Kingdom as well as overseas. However, the news services provided by the At The Races team extend beyond mere television coverage. The organisation also boasts an interesting and varied Internet service. Here’s our lowdown on the At The Races website.

Initial impressions

At first sight, the At The Races homepage appears to be rather ‘busy’. The company logo, recognisable from the television channel, is featured prominently at the top of the page. If you’re a member or subscriber to the site, you can log in by entering your email address and password at the top of the page. Below the logo, one comes across a row of links, which provide users with easy access to the News, Results and Video features amongst the many other services offered by the site. This is followed by another set of links, which allow quick access to everything from Replays to Odds and Offers.

The left hand side of the At The Races homepage presents users with a bit of a mish-mash of links and advertisements. Here, you can find information on everything, from what’s currently showing on the At The Races television channel to an upcoming race diary. You can also find links to the latest videos as classified by racecourse. There’s also a link to the information services that At The Races provides for overseas racing meets – namely ones in held in the United States. You can also refresh the At The Races homepage every minute by clicking on the link provided near the bottom of the left hand side of the homepage. This is a particularly useful feature if you want to catch results as and when they come in. The central section of the homepage contains, as one would expect, the key stories of the day as well as links to columns written by the site’s main contributors and commentators. Further information on racing fixtures and betting may be found on the right hand side of the homepage. Again there are links here to information on races held abroad.

What should one make of all this? As far as graphics are concerned, the homepage appears to be fairly graphics-intensive. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing as they are largely tasteful and eye-catching. Adverts are, as ever, an annoyance. However, they don’t hinder one’s navigation around the homepage. The site does not seem to make use of pop-ups, which is always something to be commended. As far as the content of the homepage is concerned, I did find a degree of repetition in terms of the links available. For example, you can access Videos by clicking on numerous links dotted around the page. To some extent this is useful, as it means that you are less likely to ‘miss’ a feature. Personally, I would have preferred a situation where all video links were confined to one section of the homepage. Nevertheless, these criticisms are fairly minor and the At The Races homepage is certainly one of the better sports homepages I’ve encountered thus far.

The At The Races website has a number of informative and interesting sections which together provide a wealth of information on the sport. Here are reviews of the key pages of interest.

Section Reviews

Results

The At The Races Results section provides users with up-to-the minute results of races. Furthermore, the Fast Results tab, which may be found on the left hand side of the page, allows you to access first, second and third place race standings within less than a minute of the horses and their jockeys crossing the finish line. The Results page also provides links to replays of the day’s events, thereby ensuring that you don’t miss out on any of the action. More information and a review of the At The Races Video feature may be found below.

News

Like the television channel of the same name, the News section of the At The Races website offers excellent coverage of key racing events, stories and personalities. News articles are easily navigable and are presented to users as a list. Each article comes with a small picture by its side, so that you get an added flavour of the content being discussed. News content is well written and can be easily understood, regardless of whether or not you are particularly familiar with the sport and its personalities. Articles often contain firsthand quotes from the main figures featuring in the stories covered.

Features

I found this part of the At The Races site to be highly informative and interesting. It offers analysis and commentary on racing events from the perspective of the site’s regular contributors. Features are not only directed towards particular racing events but are often also focused on a particular part of the country such as the North of England. Furthermore, if you have not had a chance to keep up with the week’s key racing events, then you’ll find David Lawrence’s regular “Talking Horses” section invaluable. It provides a succinct but informative take on everything that has been happening in the world of racing during the past week.

Tips

This section of the site is particularly useful if you want insider information on a particular race. In the words of the At The Races team, “Our dedicated team of tipsters evaluate every race in the UK and Ireland exclusively for www.At The Races.com.” Unusually, for many British racing sites, tips are also provided for US meets. This is particularly useful as it increases the site’s international reach.

Video Services

This is undoubtedly a popular aspect of the site, especially among those who do not have access to the At The Races television channel. It provides racing fans with the opportunity to catch up on highlights of key events and enjoy unparalleled racing coverage. In order to access the content, you will need to register – but importantly the service is completely free.

Once having registered you will be able to access:

• Live video coverage of events shown on the At The Races television channel
• Unrestricted free access to everything from replays of races to news clips
• Archive replays that are updated on a rapid and regular basis
• User-friendly and easily accessible features such as race cards which have been produced to a high video quality in order to provide users with the best possible viewing experience.

Altogether, this is certainly a top-notch service, particularly as you do not need to pay for it. Do bear in mind, however, that a high-speed Internet connection will be required in order for you to make the best use of the At The Races video feature.

International Sections

At The Races international coverage principally covers racing meets held in the United States and the Republic of Ireland. Information generally concerns details of fixtures and betting information. If you’re looking for commentary and tips on horse racing in the United States, then Barry Faulkner’s US Racing Preview is the place to begin. It offers clear and direct information on the latest fixtures and insider betting tips. Most other racing sites based in the UK do not offer such detailed information on foreign racing meets and this is a clear plus for the At The Races as it encourages a broader audience to visit the site.

At The Races TV

At The Races has its own television channel too. If you’d like further information on programme schedules, then the At The Races website is undoubtedly the place to go. A programming guide is available for the current week. The guide includes times as well as a brief explanation of show content. The At The Races TV guide may be found here

Conclusion

On the whole, the At The Races website appears to be well-designed and highly informative. Whilst the site may initially appear to be quite busy in terms of its design and content, this does not detract from its easily navigable nature. Content is of a high quality and analysis is interesting, entertaining and, in many cases, offers a refreshing perspective not always seen on other sports websites. The video feature is, in my opinion, one of the best aspects of the site as it provides an excellent way to view live events and catch up with archived coverage at no additional cost. I would highly recommend the At The Races website to anyone who’s looking for a one-stop source for news and insider information on current racing events.