When it comes to TV, there aren't many channels your average punter could watch all day, every day. Sky Sports News is fun for an hour - by which time you know the presenter's lines better than he does. Eurosport is strictly appointment-to-view, unless you're willing to wade through hours of wheelchair clay pigeon shooting to catch real sports like, er, women's tennis.

And then there's At The Races. If ever there was a channel made to be permanently switched on, this is it. From 9am until the small hours, a perpetual paradise of live horse racing, punditry, sports betting advice and casino action awaits. Press the red button and bet your life away. You'll never want to go to bed again.

No surprises, then, that ATR is one of the fastest growing channels on cable and satellite TV. Since its launch in June 2004, it has bolted out of the starting gate to garner an audience of up to 400,000 people for live afternoon racing. Even better, it's free - as long as you have the basic Sky package.

'Big' Bob's big jobs

Most importantly, though, the channel's mission to provide the punter with the most accurate betting information is being fulfilled. But that's not something we learned from some glib press release. We put it to the test by visiting ATR at their central London HQ, then getting in the thick of the live action with them on the all-weather at Lingfield.

'Keeping the punter happy... aye, you've got it right there,' starts Glaswegian 'Big' Bob Patience, the channel's executive producer, from his office couch. 'If there's one thing we aim to do other than the obvious task of putting racing on air, it's giving out information you need to win. This channel is about betting. We're here for the punters, so we provide a constant stream of information.

'In addition to updated information, we want a real relationship with the punters,' he adds, pouring coffee as the day's Racing Post is delivered. 'That's why we've developed shows like Get On with Sean Boyce, and Racing News, where punters write in and tell us what they think. If we get tips wrong, they tell us about it! We can't hide behind our mistakes. It's all part of the entertainment.'

And Bob is a man who knows all about entertainment. He kicked off his 40-year media career with velvet voiced Peter O'Sullevan on the racing section of the Daily Express before graduating to news reporting and a career in Scottish TV. Soon, ITV Network came knocking on the Scot's door to produce World of Sport's On The Ball segment.

Ain't no saint

Bob transformed that show into the legendary Saint and Greavsie, and his reputation as a star sports producer was cemented... at least it was once he'd helped get Jimmy Greaves on the straight and narrow.

'Jimmy always blamed the Scottish players at Tottenham for his notorious booze habit,' protests Glaswegian Bob. 'But the real reason is this: originally he wasn't much of a drinker - he used to drink halves - but wherever he went people would buy him a beer. He got the taste and got so bad he ended up mixing meths and cider and drinking it from a plastic container in the boot of his car! After working with those two, I was ready for anything in TV, getting the production side of At The Races on air in only four weeks last year!'

Last June's launch, as you may have figured out, wasn't the channel's first. The original ATR, or ATR 1, as it's retrospectively known, was a joint venture between Sky, Channel 4, At The Races and Arena Leisure. It briefly raised punters' expectations before crashing ignominiously a couple of years ago. Sky then bought out Channel 4's share and relaunched the channel in 2004 using racing specialist SIS handling all the feeds and Racetech providing the live pictures.

This time around, under the shrewd leadership of chief executive Matthew Imi, formerly Head of Sky Ventures, ATR got full distribution on the Sky basic package and developed winning deals with betting partners. From a programming rights perspective, the channel was forced to split Britain's courses roughly 50-50 with fellow broadcaster Racing UK, but unlike their principal competitor, they completely eschewed a subscription business model. The result? They removed the last reason why punters wouldn't watch the channel.

'Fair to say that this time round we are market leader and growing strongly on all fronts,' comments Patience, before we sit in on this morning's editorial meeting followed by a guided tour of the editing and transmission suite.

Talent on TV

'But the main thing for me is that being number one has allowed us to grow and invest in programming. Get On in the evening has expanded to cover sports betting, and on the presenter front we're developing two or three girls with big connections who look the business. Naturally, they know their racing as well.

'Now, speaking of live presenting, hadn't you better be off?'

And so to 'lucky' Lingfield. Today, ATR are covering six races from this tight left-handed all-weather course. We're talking banded stakes, too, so there's monster value to be had if we can pile on the right horses. The ATR team includes a £250,000 outside broadcast truck with a director and engineer. Elsewhere on the drizzly course - by the paddock, we discover - is a cameraman and presenter.

It's goodnight from him

In front of camera this afternoon is Zoey Bird, long-term ATR tipster and punters' pin-up - a kind of delicious cheese to 'Fat Fool' John McCririck's chalk. To say Zoey is at home at Lingfield is an understatement. She went to the convent school over the road, where she would gaze longingly at the 1m2f of polytrack during double Latin.

She poured champagne in the executive boxes while working as a student, ran around the track in pyjamas for charity and raced it on ponies. Aged five, she visited the course for the very first time and met Ronnie Corbett. Thinking the vertically challenged comedian was a jockey, she asked which horse he was riding.

'Well he is short!' laughs Zoey, who off-camera sounds seductively like a head girl with a dirty laugh. 'But, yes, I am totally at home here. I get great access. This morning, I've been to the weighing room to find out the non-runners and catch up on any news. I've met jockeys, trainers, and spoken to the clerk of the course to get information on the track, which I pass on to viewers.

'I've also had a word with Johnny Egan, one of the best jockeys riding here today: he's in five of the six races. And I've spoken to Jean Luc Guillambert, who's been buying a lot of horses for his son JP. He wants him to win the apprentice championship, so he's one to watch.'

C4 blows its chances

Raised on an East Sussex farm by parents who bred horses for point-to-points, Zoey kicked off her career as a junior reporter on ITN. She loved the buzz of broadcasting but longed for something she was interested in, rather than 'endless voice-overs to accompany suicide bombings in Jerusalem'. Her next move was a letter to Channel 4 enquiring about a job within the racing team. Channel 4 pointed her in the direction of the newly-established ATR 1, where she put her addiction and infectious enthusiasm for racing to work at once.

'The first thing I found in the job is that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing,' laughs Zoey, as a passing jockey winks at her from the paddock. 'Racing is so dangerous because you always want to know more. It's something all the presenters on the channel have in common. At first I found some of them intimidating - but you soon find your feet. Take McCririck. I used to find him especially daunting, but after a bit I won his respect by showing I had genuine knowledge. After that, I found he is excellent at offering advice.'

Speaking of advice, we get down to the serious business of putting money on today's racing. In between her live links to the studio - all big smile, pashmina and mud-splattered cowboy boots - Zoey studies the form while giving us a running commentary. We steer clear of the fi rst race, because she doesn't seem totally convinced about the counsel she's delivering. Big mistake: Zoey lands a forecast as Fulvio beats Dial Square to the winning post. Naturally, by the second race at 2:30, we're happy to pile onto her suggestion of Vlasta Weiner. Jockey Neil Callan does a decent job of steering through a tight pack, but falls short into second, and we didn't bet each-way. Ouch.

More Moet with Zoey

Next we dash to Bazza Bismarck's joint to stick a fat one on hot Zoey tip Secam. This time we're beaten by the clock. We can't get the money on before the gates open, and Secam romps home. We miss the fourth because we're on air, but Zoey picks a place. By the fifth, we're foaming at the mouth for a winner and go large (by my standards) on Confuzed at 8/1 to win, with Johnny Egan on board. We're on the rails as Confuzed is last in and last out of the gates and trails the pack for the first part of the race.

We're virtually in tears... until what can only be described as a Seabiscuit moment. Egan weaves through the runners from back to front and thunders home to win. Unadulterated ecstasy follows.

Not sure who won the 4:00pm - we were in Frankie's Bar having a large Moet moment. Half way through a lobster platter and the mobile rings. It's Big Bob from ATR HQ. He wants to know if we're being looked after and to see how the afternoon has gone.

'Well, we're £400 up and half-cut on vintage champagne,' we slur. 'And that Zoey is lovely... she really has got fantastic tips.' Bob ponders the appropriate response for a senior television executive. 'Sounds like At The Races is doing its job...'