ITV Decides Against Showing Breeders Cup in Blow for Racing

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When you think of ‘must see’ racing events that you want on ITV Racing for the general public to watch, the Breeders Cup isn’t usually on the list.

But of course, thanks to City Of Troy, this isn’t a normal Breeders Cup Classic year for British and Irish runners. We have a genuine star contender lining up.

I think that racing has done a great job in promoting City Of Troy over the past few weeks, but in a blow to their plans, it has been confirmed that ITV Racing will not show the Breeders Cup this year, meaning anyone who wants to watch City Of Troy, will find it behind a paywall.

The news comes hot on the heels of a racecourse gallop at Southwell for the Aidan O’Brien trained runner.

To say that it went better than I expected, both on and off the track, would be quite the understatement, and Southwell Racecourse, in particular, deserves a lot of credit for the day they put on for racing fans.

Racing Let Down by Media Partners

itv-racing-boxThe deal with ITV to show horse racing on terrestrial TV was seen as a must have when it was signed. After the end of their relationship with Channel 4, racing needed a home for their biggest events, and ITV took that spot.

But racing’s biggest events are not always dictated by a race calendar. What racing is desperately trying to do is show off the personalities and equine stars in its sport, so they have to dictate what the big events are, to a certain degree.

City Of Troy is the biggest asset that flat racing has right now, and for me, that means his next run, wherever that may be, must be shown live on terrestrial TV to get as many people watching as possible.

There’s a pretty strong chance it’s his last-ever run, and there’s a lot at stake for trainer Aidan O’Brien, too. It’s not just a regular race in the calendar involving him.

This is where we need to separate the race from the event. The race not being shown on ITV is not the biggest deal in the world. But the fact that City Of Troy is not being shown on ITV is, in my opinion, at least.

I can’t help but feel like racing has been let down by their media partners here. There could still be a solution before the race, though that feels unlikely, and it would be a crying shame for racing, after their hard work, if City Of Troy’s likely last-ever race were not free to air somewhere.

Southwell Gallop a Huge Success

Moving away from the negative, I’ve got to touch on how good the Southwell gallop was, on and off the course.

Southwell Racecourse did a great job of making it an event that people would enjoy, with food and drink available, live racing on big screens from other venues, and, of course, the main event itself, getting to see perhaps the best flat horse in the world.

They attracted over 1500 people on the day, more than they get for some race meetings, with feedback from the public being very complimentary.

Let’s hope this free to enter event gives them new thoughts and ideas on how they can boost their attendance figures and have more people at the races with a smile on their faces.

Of course, I must also touch on the horse itself. You’ll never get anything from a gallop, and when it comes to Aidan O’Brien gallops, every second is diligently planned by the Irish master.

What you saw was exactly what Aidan wanted, City Of Troy surrounded by horses, being behind to get a little kick back, then coming through runners to go on and win with ease.

Just like Ryan Moore had his instructions, so did the other jockeys.

If they wanted to make the stable star look as impressive as he possibly could, then they certainly did that. I thought the horse looked like a million dollars, and I can’t wait to see him try and give O’Brien his first-ever Breeders Cup Classic.

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