The news comes after the publication of a four-month strategic review on Thurday in which Trinity Mirror said it would sell off The Racing Post and 138 regional titles in the Midlands, London and the South East.
Trinity Mirror said it would focus its business on its national and key regional papers, but said that it would consider bids upwards of £750m for the Daily Mirror. It recently held talks with millionaire businessman Marcus Evans who tabled a bid of £550m, not enough to tempt the newspaper group to sell its national title.
It is understood that the unlikelihood of securing the asking price for Trinity Mirror's national titles, which includes The People and the Daily Record, from potential bidders, led to the group's decision to sell off The Racing Post, which could fetch upwards of £200m.
Early contenders for the acquisition of The Racing Post include Dennis Publishing, Party Gaming and venture capitalist firm Providence, although no party has formally registered interest at this stage.
Evans, who has made his fortune in the conference and hospitality industry, has been linked with acquiring the Mirror for some time, having made a higher bid of between £700m and £800m in 2004, which was also not accepted.
In the meantime, the NUJ has condemned Trinity Mirror's plans to sell off its regional titles, including The Birmingham Post and Reading Chronicle, claiming the decision has created fear and uncertainty among many editorial staff at the titles in question.
Chris Morley, president of the NUJ and a journalist at the Birmingham Mail, said: "After years of squeezing the lifeblood out of these titles, particularly in the Midlands, in the ruthless pursuit of profit, Trinity Mirror has decided to cut and run from them.
"The group's ownership has been characterised by wave after wave of redundancies in editorial staffs and cut after cut on costs at the expense of journalistic content simply to fill the shareholders' pockets ever more."
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