Great Racing Welfare Cycle Challenge Revealed

The Great Racing Welfare Cycle Challenge will begin at noon on July 16 and last until noon the following day. The cycling event will raise funds for Racing Welfare, with 20 teams of four participating. This challenge sees two people cycling on the route in a 30km-loop, while the other two team members rest at the 'Riders Camp' at Cheltenham Racecourse.

Among those saddling up are former champion jockeys Sir AP McCoy, Richard Johnson, Harry Skelton and Oisin Murphy. Trainer Ben Pauling is fielding two teams, while racing broadcasters Sean Boyce, Vanessa Ryle and Rosie Tapner are also teaming up for Sky Sports. There are also four key sponsors that are supporting the challenge: The Jockey Club, Tattersalls, Unibet and The Racehorse Lotto. The sponsors have agreed to donate 25p to Racing Welfare for all the miles achieved by each team.

At the end of the challenge, the fundraising target is £60,000. A number of 'money can't buy' auction lots have also been donated to support the challengers to meet their fundraising target which you can bid on here. Alternatively, you can text GRWC and the amount you wish to donate to 70450 (eg. GRWC5 GRWC10 GRWC50 etc) to support all those taking part.

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Breeders’ Cup To Expand U.K. Coverage Of 2021 World Championships

Breeders' Cup announced Friday expanded plans for broadcast coverage of the 2021 Breeders' Cup World Championships in the U.K. and Ireland, with ITV, Sky Sports Racing and Racing TV all set to deliver live television and digital broadcast coverage from the event to be held at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, Calif. Nov. 5 and 6, 2021.

“The Breeders' Cup World Championships is a truly international event and fans around the world deserve increased access to and in-depth coverage of the world's most talented horses, jockeys, and trainers,” said Breeders' Cup President and CEO Drew Fleming. “ITV, Racing TV and Sky Sports Racing are wonderful partners and we look forward to working with them to expand coverage of this world-class event for racing fans in the U.K and Ireland.”

ITV

Breeders' Cup will enjoy unprecedented exposure from ITV, which is the biggest commercial broadcast network in the U.K. and the home of terrestrial horseracing. ITV have held the terrestrial horseracing rights since 2017 and during that time have effectively doubled the racing audience in the U.K., winning a BAFTA in their first year of broadcasting.

ITV will have an on-site presentation and production team at the 2021 Breeders' Cup and will show all 14 Championship races, with the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf and Longines Breeders' Cup Classic being showcased on the main channel and every other race on ITV4.

Niall Sloane, Director of Sport, ITV said: “ITV are delighted to be able to bring all the races at the Breeders Cup, a truly global event and the culmination of the 2021 flat racing season, to a big terrestrial audience in the U.K.”

Sky Sports Racing

Sky Sports Racing will continue its long-standing partnership with the Breeders' Cup with live coverage of the 2021 Breeders' Cup World Championships using the acclaimed, NBC-produced feed in its broadcast coverage and hosting Sky Sports Racing talent on-site at Del Mar for interviews and reporting. Alongside the live television broadcast, extensive digital coverage and promotion of the Breeders' Cup World Championships will be available on attheraces.com – the U.K. and Ireland's largest racing website – and via the skysports.com network.

Matthew Imi, Chief Executive, At The Races said: “We're delighted to continue our valued relationship with the Breeders' Cup and it's great news that Del Mar in November will be able to welcome racegoers with 100% of seated capacity. The Breeders' Cup goes from strength to strength and continues to be a focal point and culmination for our comprehensive coverage of US racing, as we stream and broadcast events throughout the year for fans in the U.K. and Ireland and via more than 30 bookmaker partners.”

Tickets for the 2021 Breeders' Cup World Championships in Del Mar, Calif. will go on sale at Noon ET / 9:00 a.m. PT on Friday, July 16. Available seating options and pricing can be viewed now at BreedersCup.com/tickets.

Racing TV

Racing TV has secured the rights to broadcast the 2021 Breeders' Cup World Championships as well as 11 of the 16 Breeders' Cup “Win and You're in” Challenge races in the U.K. and Ireland this year. Racing TV has also committed to a full, innovative marketing plan to support its coverage of the event across its broadcast and digital platforms.

Martin Stevenson, CEO of Racecourse Media Group, parent company of Racing TV, said: “We are delighted to team up with Breeders' Cup. We look forward to building real momentum and excitement across the season in the lead-up to Breeders' Cup via engaging and compelling content, which will all be underpinned by the highest-quality production and presentation, as befits the World Championships of horse racing.”

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Australia: The World’s Best Turf Sprinters Ready For The Everest

In my new role as announcer at Los Alamitos Race Course, I marvel at the raw speed of Quarter Horses. The Thoroughbred equivalent will be on display at Randwick this Friday night, as Australia's elite sprinters contest the fourth running of The Everest. The world's richest turf race carries a purse of AU$15 million (US$10.8 million) and is part of a recently introduced Pick 7 wager that can be played for just 20c per combination and has a $10,000 pool guarantee this Friday night.

Although the two-mile Melbourne Cup is the nation's most famous race, Australia's forté is actually producing the world's best turf sprinters. While American fans are dubious of anything unproven on U.S. soil, the Breeders' Cup is poorly timed from the standpoint of Australia's rich “Spring Carnival.” However, Aussie sprinters have succeeded in other global arenas such as Royal Ascot, Dubai and Hong Kong. The Everest, at six furlongs, is framed around the concept of slot holders seeking deals with connections of the best available horses. In a flashy display of innovation and savvy marketing, the race that sports the name of the world's highest peak had its post position draw conducted on the glass-bottomed Sky Deck at the top of Sydney Tower (which dwarfs Seattle's Space Needle but is slightly smaller than America's tallest observation tower, the Stratosphere in Las Vegas).

Just as the Sydney Tower has a revolving restaurant, the race itself revolves around Nature Strip (7-2 equal favorite). Recently crowned Australian Horse of the Year for a trio of Group 1 wins in 2019/20, Nature Strip is currently tied for sixth in the Longines World's Best Racehorse rankings (with Almond Eye, Authentic, and Enable). However, Nature Strip's stock has slumped with two losses to begin his 6-year-old season.

As short as 3-2 in Future Book wagering for The Everest a month ago, the gelding exited his most recent defeat with mucus in his trachea. That followed his well publicized dumping of jockey James McDonald at the start of a training race, requiring a subsequent trial to the stewards' satisfaction. Nature Strip retains the confidence of both McDonald, who declares his coat “is definitely looking a bit better,” and trainer Chris Waller, whose vet is “very happy with his blood levels.”

Post positions are potentially important, as the best trip could well decide the outcome among so many top-caliber sprinters. Fortune has smiled upon Nature Strip, Classique Legend (7-2 equal favorite) and Gytrash (6-1), who have drawn adjacent gates in the middle of the field. However, the task of brilliant last-start winner Libertini (8-1) was complicated when the mare drew the extreme outside. Classique Legend was an untapped talent when an unlucky sixth in The Everest last year. More recently, the gray unleashed an electrifying burst to win off a layoff, then was trapped wide without cover when a creditable second.

Classique Legend is conditioned by 82-year-old Les Bridge, who hopes to cap a Melbourne Cup-winning career with a victory by what he considers the best horse he's trained. Adelaide-based Gytrash (pronounced gee-trah) has a 92-year-old part-owner named Valerie Gordon, who has been a racing fan for 84 years. Valerie would spend her share of one of the world's biggest purses “getting the house painted and getting a new bed … and I might get another horse.” Gytrash has been Australia's most consistent topline sprinter of the past twelve months, and won his prep race for The Everest at first asking the reverse way of going (right-handed).

Next in the betting is a massive equine specimen sporting an appropriate name. Behemoth (9-1) is one of horse racing's all-time bargain buys: the winner of $1.6 million was purchased as a yearling for a paltry $6,000. (Incongruously, he cost $120,000 a year earlier as a weanling!) Behemoth has won consecutive Group 1s in Melbourne at seven furlongs, but was unplaced in his only two Sydney races in the opposite (clockwise) direction.

In Behemoth's case, an inside gate (2) might not make for the most comfortable transit, and the distance cutback to six furlongs perhaps makes him worth risking when framing Pick-7 tickets. At longer odds, Trekking (16-1) holds appeal: the Godolphin sprinter, who finished third in this race last year, might appreciate being kept a bit fresher leading into the 2020 renewal … and would certainly be an aptly named winner of The Everest.

Here is a suggested ticket for the 20c Pick-7, which spans the final seven races on Friday's card:

Race 4 – # 1, 9

Race 5 – # 1, 5, 14

Race 6 – # 1, 4

Race 7 – # 1, 2, 3, 7

Race 8 – # 2

Race 9 – # 2, 3, 7, 10

Race 10 – # 1, 6

 

Total cost: $76.80

 

The Pick 7 wager is available via all major ADW platforms such as TVG, TwinSpiresXpressbet, NYRABets, WatchandWagerHPIbetAmWager, and BetAmerica. The Randwick card will be broadcast live on TVG this Friday night with live crosses to Sky Racing World's Jason Witham trackside (First Post: 9:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. PT) . All races will also be live-streamed in HD with past performances available for free at skyracingworld.com and major ADW platforms.

A native of Brisbane, Australia, Michael Wrona has called races in six countries. Michael's vast U.S. experience includes; race calling at Los Alamitos, Hollywood Park, Arlington and Santa Anita, calling the 2000 Preakness on a national radio network and the 2016 Breeders' Cup on the International simulcast network. Michael also performed a race call voiceover for a Seinfeld episode called The Subway.

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IFHA: COVID-19 Has Demanded Creativity, Yielded Innovation For Racing Broadcasters

The second of four digital panels of the 54th International Conference of Horseracing Authorities was released last week and focused on the evolution of racing media in the time of COVID-19

The conference, organized by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA), normally takes place in person in Paris the day after the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. This year's conference program focuses on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the international racing world. In this digital panel, broadcast media members were asked about the way their outlets have adapted to a socially distanced racetrack.

A few takeaways from the panel of media experts:

  • In Britain, viewership that would normally spike for main events and decrease for more pedestrian race days in between has remained more consistent throughout the past months, according to ITV's Francesca Cumani. It's hard to tell what this may mean, but Cumani hopes it's a sign fans are becoming more engaged with racing as they've had more time to devote to watching a horse prepare for a classic run.
  • In Japan, Japan Racing Association's Shigeru Suzuki said the country has seen a drastic increase in new account sign-ups for online wagering platforms. The number of registrants increased by 250,000 compared to pre-pandemic numbers, bringing the total to 4.7 million users. Suzuki also said the Green Channel, normally a pay-per-view way to watch the races at home, has been made available free of charge (though the online app is still paid). Total turnover in Japan year over year is similar to 2019 despite the lack of fan access during COVID-19.
  • Rob Hyland of NBC Sports said that although the disappearance of fans from the racetracks took away some of the magic from big races like the Kentucky Derby, the channel did its best to expand its use of technology to bring the fan experience to viewers at home. Capturing ambient sound became a bigger priority, now that conversations between riders and the sounds of horses galloping could be heard without background noise. More jockeys at this year's major races were wearing microphones and cameras. These extra points of access enabled remote analysis from anchors who were covering the race from out of state. The restrictions on media attendance also forced NBC to be more efficient — NBC's crew is normally over 300 for the Kentucky Derby, while this year it was less than 100.
  • In some ways, the silence at racetracks enhances the experience — Jason Richardson of Channel 7 and Racing.com recalled a moment when a jockey got a first Group 1 victory at Royal Randwick. Because there were no crowds shouting at the wire, Richardson was able to hear a group of jockeys behind the winner cheer for their colleague as the race finished.
  • In Australia, Channel 7 has brought the experience of celebrating owners to its viewers by asking ownership groups to film themselves watching the races or providing recordings of Zoom parties they use to virtually gather and watch races. Their energy doesn't translate exactly the same way, but still elevates the production, according to Richardson.
  • Cumani said that as racing has returned in Britain, broadcasters have had to be mindful of public perception when sending out images from the track. As happy as racing media were to be back, they had to be sensitive to the fact that daily life in the country remained disrupted.

    “In England I think there's a big danger that racing is is seen as an elitist endeavor, and why should racing continue when other things can't?” she said.

    Katherine Ford of Equidia and Sky Sports Racing echoed those sentiments from her viewpoint in France, agreeing that camera operators had to be careful not to inadvertently film someone who had pulled down their mask temporarily for a cigarette or a drink, lest viewers think racing personnel or racegoers were not masking properly. Hyland agreed, citing camera framing choices on Kentucky Oaks Day for some presenters whose backdrops were chosen so that the physical distancing between themselves and others would be clear to viewers.

  • Hyland recalled preparing for this year's Kentucky Derby weekend, when he tried to have more racing participants than usual wearing microphones for ambient sound. Trainer Bob Baffert, who Hyland characterizes as a bit superstitious, declined to wear one on Oaks Day since he felt confident about his chances with Gamine, worrying it would jinx him. He did agree to wear one for the Derby, where he felt less confident in his contenders. Of course, that meant NBC ended up with audio of his emotional reaction during Authentic's run.

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