Landmark racing docuseries set to air

Tony McCoy, JP McManus & Nicky Henderson by RacingKel is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Fans of jumps racing are set for a treat over the coming weeks as ITV’s Champions: Full Gallop docuseries gets set to offer a unique behind the scenes look into the sport.

The launch of the new primetime jump racing docuseries has been hailed as a “huge opportunity for the sport” and hopes are high that multiple seasons can be developed.

The six-part Champions: Full Gallop series tells the story of the 2023-24 jumps campaign and episode one is due to air on ITV1 at 9pm on Friday, July 19.

The show, featuring six hour-long episodes, will highlight the lives of jumps jockeys alongside the stories of horses, owners and trainers, with an aim to replicate the success of Formula 1: Drive To Survive and attract new fans to the sport.

Filming for the project began at Kempton on Boxing Day in December and continued though the major spring festivals, including Cheltenham and Aintree’s three-day Grand National Festival in April.

The series has captured unprecedented action from the racecourse as well as footage inside weighing rooms and at stable yards across Britain.

‘Huge opportunity for the sport’

Champions: Full Gallop was produced by South Shore with support from Flutter and Racecourse Media Group.

RMG chief executive Martin Stevenson has been talking about the window of opportunity that the series will present as it goes out on primetime, mainstream television.

“It’s a huge opportunity for the sport and the question is how can we build on this,” said Stevenson.

“I hope everybody will love it and we can talk about the next series. The way these things work best is to build them over a number of series and to really draw people into the stories so it becomes one of the ways they enjoy the sport.

“We want people at home to be able to engage with racing and to see it in a different way, to get a glimpse behind the scenes and experience the grit and the glory. We hope to ultimately widen the sport’s fan base.”

Big names in the mix

Newly crowned champion jockey Harry Cobden, Dan and Harry Skelton, Sean Bowen, Nicky Henderson and Nico de Boinville are among those showcased in the series, which aims to follow the lead of previous programmes including Formula 1’s Drive To Survive, football’s All Or Nothing and a Netflix series focused on the Tour de France.

“It’s become an important genre as sports docuseries help engage with fans and attract new ones,” added Stevenson.

“It’s a really effective way to get fans closer to the action, to learn the untold stories and to see the heroes of the sport close up.

“Sport is about the competitors. Being a jump jockey is an incredibly tough discipline and getting the wider public to understand the hard work, effort and risks will hopefully lead to those at home buying into them as sporting stars.”

De Boinville excited by the unknown

Though he’s a star of the show, Nico De Boinville insists he’s in the dark as to what viewers are going to see, given the access all areas exposure the cameras were allowed.

The top rider hopes the series will give viewers a glimpse of the human and personal sides of the sport.

“I don’t actually know what to expect,” said De Boinville. “We all tried to work with South Shore as much as we could.

“Nicky [Henderson] was very good in letting the film crew do their job in the yard, and they also had unprecedented access to the weighing room. We all had microphones above our saddle racks – and scarily some of us forgot they were there.

De Boinville added: “I hope the series shows the reality of the job and presents a more human side to what people see on ITV Racing.”