Devonport Cup marks Tassie racing’s return to free-to-air TV

A mainland summer heatwave and a more flexible broadcast agreement will deliver Tasmania’s feature Devonport Cup meeting to a national free-to-air audience on Wednesday.

In what will be the first Tasmanian meeting to be broadcast on free-to-air in over 13 years, the entire Devonport meeting will be centre stage on Racing.com across FTA, Foxtel, Kayo, and streaming platforms, with racing at Sandown and Oakbank rescheduled as the mainland swelters under temperatures above 40 degrees.

Tasracing CEO Andrew Jenkins praised the flexibility of long-term broadcast partner Sky Channel in enabling the coverage.

“Our new media rights deal with Sky, which started on 1 January 2026, has an FTA allowance for 10 Tasmanian thoroughbred meetings each year to be broadcast live,” Jenkins said.

“The Devonport Cup meeting will also benefit from full coverage of every race as the South Australian and Victorian race meetings have been moved due to forecast hot temperatures.”

Jenkins confirmed that two other feature days in the Ladbrokes Tasmanian Summer Racing Festival, the Hobart Cup and Launceston Cup, are likely to be broadcast on Racing.com.

Wednesday’s program features 10 races, with the Ladbrokes Devonport Cup at 5.07pm, where Craig Newitt will chase his 10th victory aboard the Barry Campbell-trained Earendel.