A new six-part horse racing docuseries has been confirmed for ITV1 in 2024. The series will tell the stories of lives, journeys, and adventures – both human and equine – which make horse racing so dramatic and compelling, as well as focus on the high levels of welfare applied to racehorses and jockeys. It promises to showcase “the very best horse racing has to offer to a wider and broader audience and get behind the scenes of the sport like never before”.
ITV-backed independent production company South Shore will produce, with filming due to start in December ahead of transmission in late summer 2024. Flutter and Racecourse Media Group (RMG) have supported the project, however, the emphasis is very much on the series being a racing-wide collaboration, and many different stakeholders, including the Professional Jockeys’ Association (PJA) and British Horseracing Authority (BHA), have already lent their support.
“This is an extremely exciting development for the sport,” said Julie Harrington, Chief Executive, BHA. “The industry’s strategy is all about reaching new audiences and showing them the brilliance of our sport, while at the same time making racing more interesting and engaging for our current fans. There promises to be a little bit of something for everyone in this new programme. We’re proud of our sport and all it stands for, and anything that brings the passion and excitement of racing and the characters who work in it into people’s homes can only be a good thing.”
“Racing drives an enormous amount of passion and excitement among ITV viewers as we know from our unrivalled coverage,” said Simon Daglish, Deputy Managing Director, Commercial, ITV. This new series is a fantastic chance to build on that excitement and bring this adrenaline filled sport to a new audience. We are delighted to be working with the racing community to showcase racing in a way that has never been seen before.”
With a strong track record in unscripted programming, South Shore is responsible for sports focussed series that include the BAFTA nominated Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams (BBC1), The Man Who Bought Cricket (Sky Docs) and Football Dreams: The Academy (C4).
Melanie Leach, Joint CEO of South Shore, said: “The dedication, determination and bravery in British horse racing is the stuff of legend – reputations are won and lost in the blink of an eye. We couldn’t be more excited to tell the story of the fight between the heroes and heroines of this incredible sport as they race their way to the winning line.”
Michael Burns
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