ITVs racing coverage, what do we think 3 months in?

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MyBoyChe

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I have to say, I am won over on the whole. Ive watched all the Cheltenham festival with them and switched over for the last 2 races each day on RUK. ITV win hands down for me, I have really enjoyed the Opening show in the mornings, a fabulous spot for the studio with all the lorries pulling in behind them, some good interviews and insights for the day ahead. The main program has been well presented and entertaining, as a seasoned follower of the game I havent felt that they have been too condescending or watered it down too much, but I can see that the style of presenting would also appeal to the more casual follower. I have been impressed with the way they have kept us informed of incidents and casualties, thankfully not too many, but they havent shied away from it. Some of their features have been really good, jockeys, trainers and owners all seem happy to speak to them. Ed is, I think, a really good choice for lead presenter, he has a sense of humour and an ability to keep it all together. Ive always liked Fitzy, he knows his stuff. Oli seems like a really nice guy, fun, intelligent and again, a good choice, he has an easy manner that interviewees seem to warm to with the added bonus of being tall enough to pop the earplugs out of the horses at the end of the race :) All of the others bring different things to the show and overall, I think, make a good mix. I will even confess to changing my opinion of Matt, he is coming over so much better on ITV than he ever did in the studio on ATR and he is 100% preferable to Mr Nevison on RUK. I really hope they continue to pull in the audiences.
 
I was never anti, preferred them to the later C4 coverage but think they have really gelled as a team. I really like Ed, think Matt has calmed down nicely and is really quite good fun and am warming to Mick. If I have any criticism is is AP, who will not, under any circumstances actually offer an opinion presumably because he is still so intertwined with the racing community. I like the explanations for people who might be first time viewers. 9/10 from me :)
 
I would rather have ITV than the later C4 coverage...

Matt is occasionally annoying but mainly ok and I always enjoy when Brian gleeson stands up to him lol.

Ed is good, and I love AP and Alice.

Still can't see the point of the weather girl or Victoria Park though :(

Fiona
 
I'm really enjoying ITV. I really like Ed, Luke Harvey and Mick Fitz know their stuff and all the others work in well. Love Alice too!

I love how they are down in the action, and could bring in winning jockeys/trainers etc for a quick chat. It doesn't feel so disconnected as Channel 4 sometimes did.

I also really enjoyed watching the Opening Show this week, I thought it was really good.
 
Fiona said:
I would rather have ITV than the later C4 coverage...

Matt is occasionally annoying but mainly ok and I always enjoy when Brian gleeson stands up to him lol.

Ed is good, and I love AP and Alice.

Still can't see the point of the weather girl or Victoria Park though :(

Fiona
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Sorry for my auto correct. .

Victoria pendleton

Fiona
 
I have not been able to watch it live, so have been able to speed through Matt and VP, nice girl but knows nothing. The weather girl... Why? And was she going to Ascot or a funeral in that black feathery malarkey? But the others were fabulous, entertaining, slick and really good. The Opening Show was great too. Excellent. 4/5 from me.
 
i have really enjoyed cheltenham coverage but still cant warm to matt, i hope they continue in the same way for the rest of the meetings and dont skimp on showing the horses before they race. they are much better than the last channel 4 coverage IMO..
 
It was lovely to see Brough Scott back. He's a genuinely nice bloke (I looked after his horse for a bit) and was a great racing presenter all those years ago.

I can't abide VP, she brings nothing to the party other than squealing a lot and being irritating �� I think she was even irritating her co-presenters yesterday.
 
I enjoyed the coverage. Didn't have time to watch the Opening show so can't comment but watched every afternoon, some live and some recorded.
As others I like most of the presenters, far better than the boring ones towards the end of Ch4's time.
Not keen on Matt, but not interested in betting anyway. Agree we don't need Victoria or the weather girl.
I come from an era when Brough was in his prime and though he is still knowledgeable, I feel he is too old and that is from someone who is too old as well!
On the whole, very enjoyable.
 
I've got used to them .. maybe because there's a bit of an overlap with the old Channel 4 team. Agree with others that we can do without the weather girl or Victoria - and I wouldn't lose sleep if we also lost Matt Chapman, who's a bit narcissistic and Luke Harvey, who's like an excitable puppy that's been fed fizzy Haribo and Red Bull.

Enjoyed the Cheltenham coverage in general and I like the jargon buster slots.

Watching today's racing - well done Nico de Boinville at Kempton. He "dismounted" Days of Heaven just after they left the parade ring, the horse then reared up in hand and almost took the head off the lad trying to hold on to him .. then, when they were re-united, the horse went all the way to the start sideways, before trying to take off. Despite all that - a nice win.
 
EKW, maybe you can answer a question for me! Watching the lorries pulling up and the horses arriving, it struck me how few of them wear boots, bandages or rugs. There were some in full kit but given how fragile they are and how valuable some of them are I was a bit surprised that they are not all booted to the eyeballs. Is there a reason in general terms why it seems a lot of racehorses travel light?
 
I can't speak for other yards but ours aren't booted/bandaged as we find they don't always travel that well with stuff on. Leave them free to feel their legs and they seem to stand much better.
 
Newtown was jumping so well up til that point! Bless him! He lives to fight another day which is what matter most. Sky wouldn't have appreciated that ground at all but the run will set him up nicely for Aintree in a few weeks.

Just my old pal Mysteree to watch in the Midlands then I had better get some work done!

Eta. Mysteree ran His wee heart out! All he does is gallop, jump and stay!
 
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I have been impressed with how they have dealt with fatalities. Not a nice thing to have to do but I think they handle it better than C4 did.
Don't see the need for the weather girl and there is still the odd occasion when someone needs to slip Matt Chapman a few ml of sedalin but on the whole I am quite liking it.
 
So far so good. I am warming to Ed Chamberlain as the weeks go by. He acts like this gig is his dream job, the one he's really been waiting for which is so nice. Matt Chapman is mad but there's no harm in him and he does take time to explain things too. Far better that the awful masochinist (sp ?) old dinosaur John Mc and the frightfully dull Tanya "I dressed in the dark" Stevenson. I agree VP was a bit surplus to requirements at Cheltenham but she has done some interesting pieces for them off site if you see what I mean and she brings an athletes view point to things which is interesting - human vs equine training etc. Oli Bell is delightful and clearly well liked by trainers and jockeys and just seems a thoroughly nice boy. I love Luke he is so enthusiastic even if he does talk tripe sometimes and Mick Fitzgerald is very knowledgeable too. The one person I can't warm to as a presenter is AP. I know he's very much in love with JP and Jonjo but it would be nice to see him tip something other than theirs. He has an opinion on many things within racing yet seems reluctant to air them on tv when asked.

As for the Cheltenham coverage on the whole very good. Could have done with less 'how to ride the course' stuff and more time on the horses in the paddock. But small details I guess.
 
KautoStar1 said:
So far so good. I am warming to Ed Chamberlain as the weeks go by. He acts like this gig is his dream job, the one he's really been waiting for which is so nice. Matt Chapman is mad but there's no harm in him and he does take time to explain things too. Far better that the awful masochinist (sp ?) old dinosaur John Mc and the frightfully dull Tanya "I dressed in the dark" Stevenson. I agree VP was a bit surplus to requirements at Cheltenham but she has done some interesting pieces for them off site if you see what I mean and she brings an athletes view point to things which is interesting - human vs equine training etc. Oli Bell is delightful and clearly well liked by trainers and jockeys and just seems a thoroughly nice boy. I love Luke he is so enthusiastic even if he does talk tripe sometimes and Mick Fitzgerald is very knowledgeable too. The one person I can't warm to as a presenter is AP. I know he's very much in love with JP and Jonjo but it would be nice to see him tip something other than theirs. He has an opinion on many things within racing yet seems reluctant to air them on tv when asked.

As for the Cheltenham coverage on the whole very good. Could have done with less 'how to ride the course' stuff and more time on the horses in the paddock. But small details I guess.
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I agree with this. Good job ITV
 
Just because I don't like change I didn't warm to them at first but they have completely won me over. I think its partly down to them gelling as a team and them able to be more natural and let their personalities bounce of each other. I don't think we'll ever get back to the heady days of Oaksey, Francome and Tommo but I can live with this lot.

Except VP - although its not her fault, I have nothing against her but she's pointless on the show.
 
I'm another who has been pleasantly surprised by the ITV coverage, although was disappointed that they didn't show any of the ROR parade. Not a massive Matt Chapman fan I'm afraid but what I do really like is the way that Mick Fitzgerald and AP are able to interact with the other jockeys. Ruby Walsh for example always seemed very standoffish to the other presenters but it happy to reveal more to the likes of AP which makes for good viewing in my opinion.
 
KautoStar1 said:
So far so good. I am warming to Ed Chamberlain as the weeks go by. He acts like this gig is his dream job, the one he's really been waiting for which is so nice. Matt Chapman is mad but there's no harm in him and he does take time to explain things too. Far better that the awful masochinist (sp ?) old dinosaur John Mc and the frightfully dull Tanya "I dressed in the dark" Stevenson. I agree VP was a bit surplus to requirements at Cheltenham but she has done some interesting pieces for them off site if you see what I mean and she brings an athletes view point to things which is interesting - human vs equine training etc. Oli Bell is delightful and clearly well liked by trainers and jockeys and just seems a thoroughly nice boy. I love Luke he is so enthusiastic even if he does talk tripe sometimes and Mick Fitzgerald is very knowledgeable too. The one person I can't warm to as a presenter is AP. I know he's very much in love with JP and Jonjo but it would be nice to see him tip something other than theirs. He has an opinion on many things within racing yet seems reluctant to air them on tv when asked.

As for the Cheltenham coverage on the whole very good. Could have done with less 'how to ride the course' stuff and more time on the horses in the paddock. But small details I guess.
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Completely agree with the above. Just wish they'd shown the Parade of Personalities on Tuesday. Otherwise very impressed with coverage
 
I just wish they'd get them a bigger table!!

Have been liking some of the camera angles of the races and while only skipping to the actual races for Cheltenham as was watching with Oh who will watch the races but the general chit chat bores him a bit and liked they showed the horses looking at the jumps and shots of them getting up after a fall etc.

Matt really grates on me but then it's probably because I'm not interested in betting and the idiots that cluster round him pulling good faces because they are on TV annoys me but they can't do anything about it as remember c4 and John Mccrick had the same issue possibly even worse as he encouraged them. Yet on the other hand OH finds him really funny and he's only become interested in horses in a way other than betting on them since he met me so perhaps it's a good thing he is engaging to non horse people. Seems the horse people hate him and the non horse people love him!
 
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