The Turf Club have decided to appoint a betting analyst to monitor activity on Irish racing in the betting exchanges.

The move comes on the back of a six-month investigation which concluded that activity on the exchanges has increased considerably since Irish racing has been shown on the attheraces channel.

The Turf Club has concluded the integrity of racing will be best protected by having access to betting records on the exchanges and have asked Horse Racing Ireland to progress commercial negotiations with the firms.

A new betting analyst will also liaise with off-course bookmakers and on-course layers as the authorites here get to grips with the new betting environment that exchanges have provided.

The move comes on the back of last week's arrests in Britain where the betfair company provided information to police.