Nearly a year after the curtains closed for racing and sports newspaper the Sportsman, a new national racing paper is expected to launch October 20 in England.

Racing Ahead Weekend will be edited by former Sun racing reporter Stephen Mullen, who said the new weekly is aiming to avoid the Sportsman's fate, which closed when it ran out of funds after only seven months of publishing, the Guardian reported Tuesday.

“The paper is not trying to take on the Racing Post like the Sportsman - we are interested primarily in the betting side of racing,” Mullen is quoted as saying by the Guardian. “There's still a huge appetite for papers, especially in racing. The audience we are looking at is more a betting shop audience.”

The paper is linked to the independent monthly magazine Racing Ahead, which Mullen launched in 2004. It will compete with the Racing Post, which is currently being sold by Trinity Mirror. Racing Ahead Weekend will cost £1, 50 pence less than the Post.

The Guardian reported the niche weekly is setting its sights on sales between 20,000 and 30,000 copies. National distribution will be handled by Express Newspapers.