The ''Sporting Life'' was a British newspaper published from 1859 until 1998, best known for its coverage of

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

and

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...

. Latterly it has continued as a multi-sports website. Priced at one

penny A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is t ...

, the ''Sporting Life'' initially appeared twice weekly, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It became a daily newspaper in 1883, and in 1886 acquired its rival, '' Bell's Life in London''. In 1924 the newspaper sponsored the

1924 Women's Olympiad The 1924 Women's Olympiad (formally called ''Women's International and British Games'', French ''Grand meeting international féminin'') was the first international competition for women in track and field in the United Kingdom. The tournamen ...

held at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

in London. The paper continued publication until its merger with the ''

Racing Post ''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting publisher which is published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of 6 ...

'' in May 1998; a proposed relaunch was aborted in 1999. On 20 December 1996, before the newspaper arm closed, ''Sporting Life'' launched an online version of the paper
sportinglife.com
The site was run as a joint venture between Trinity Mirror and the

Press Association PA Media (formerly the Press Association) is a multimedia news agency, and the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is part of PA Media Group Limited, a private company with 26 shareholders, most of whom are national and re ...

until PA Sporting Life Ltd was sold to 365 Media Group

(then known as ukbetting plc, now a division of British Sky Broadcasting) on 14 October 2001. In February 1998 the newspaper lost a High Court libel action brought by racehorse owners Jack and Linda Ramsden and jockey Kieren Fallon. The ''Sporting Life'' was said to be the late Queen Mother's favourite newspaper. The eccentric racing pundit John McCririck was a journalist on the paper and later wrote a column for the website. In the popular television series '' Agatha Christie's Poirot'', it was shown to be a paper read by Poirot's associate Captain Hastings.''Poirot'': season 3 episode 9 (48:50)

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