Sunday Series fixtures could rise despite worries over staff and rider workloads

Plans are underway to run the Sky Bet Sunday Series again next year after it proved popular with punters, with the possibility being explored of extending the initiative to six meetings from three.

A peak audience of 244,000 watched ITV Racing's coverage of the first fixture at Musselburgh and the three-meeting series has been well received by bookmakers, with Betfair Sportsbook reporting turnover up 54 per cent on an average Sunday meeting.

But concerns remain over the impact of the series on stable staff and jockeys given its late start time on Sundays.