ITV wins Bafta for 2023 Cheltenham Festival coverage and Ed Chamberlin dedicates award to Jack de Bromhead

ITV Racing was crowned a Bafta winner for a second time on Sunday night with its production of the opening day of last year's Cheltenham Festival deemed the best sports broadcast of 2023 at the prestigious awards.

It was chosen ahead of BBC's coverage of the Fifa Women's World Cup final, in which England lost to Spain, and the men's singles final at Wimbledon.

The opening day of the Cheltenham Festival featured a flawless performance from Constitution Hill in the Champion Hurdle as well as a tear-jerking success for Honeysuckle just months on from the death of Jack de Bromhead, the son of trainer Henry, to whom ITV's lead host Ed Chamberlin dedicated the award.

ITV Racing won its first Bafta in 2018 for its coverage of the previous year's Grand National. That production came only months after it took over from Channel 4 as racing's terrestrial television broadcaster. 

Chamberlin was joined at London's Royal Festival Hall to collect the prize at the biggest night in British television by racing editor Richard Willoughby and senior director Paul McNamara. 

"It feels like a great night for racing," said ITV Racing's host. "This is the ultimate stage, there were some incredible people here and it's great that racing was up there on the stage. This was the only award for sport too.

"It's a little surreal. We were up against the Women's World Cup, which was probably the ante-post favourite, and when our name was called it was like 'oh my god'. It's our second Bafta and I think we enjoyed this one a little bit more.

"I'm thrilled for everyone, we're a very tight unit in front and behind the cameras. I look forward to having a photo with everyone in the team who works so hard and we'll all celebrate together. The whole thing is a massive production."

ITV presenter Ed Chamberlin at the Cheltenham Festival Credit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

ITV's Tuesday coverage last year was watched by 1.3 million viewers. It included victories for Marine Nationale in the Supreme and El Fabiolo in the Arkle, while Corach Rambler won the Ultima en route to Grand National glory a month later.

Honeysuckle's victory created one of the most moving moments on ITV Racing since it regained the racing broadcasting rights in 2017, with the popular mare recording a fourth Cheltenham Festival success on her final run, igniting emotional scenes in a packed winners' enclosure.

Chamberlin said: "I'm quite emotional. I dedicated the Bafta to Jack de Bromhead as the day was so emotional with one of the most popular horses in Honeysuckle and rider in Rachael Blackmore. It was an incredible story which we got to tell and Bafta must have liked how we told it.

"Hopefully we took the viewer on a journey that day. I got some credit for the pictures doing the talking but I had some emotional pundits who were incapable of talking. Everyone remembers those pictures, which was helped by the investment in the wire-cam, and the outpouring of love for Henry, Rachael and Honeysuckle. 

"All of us here tonight are thinking about the De Bromheads and what they've been through. I was keen to dedicate this to them."

ITV's Cheltenham Festival team included broadcasters Oli Bell, Alice Plunkett, Matt Chapman, Rishi Persad, Kevin Blake, Sally Ann Grassick and Brian Gleeson. Former jockeys Ruby Walsh, Sir AP McCoy, Mick Fitzgerald and Luke Harvey were also on screen as experts. Richard Hoiles was on commentary duty while Chris Hughes, Mark Heyes and Charlotte Hawkins appeared as lifestyle reporters.

ITV Sport editor Willoughby posted on X: "What an honour. Congratulations to everyone who works on ITV Racing - such an incredible, passionate, creative and caring team. This is dedicated to the grooms, horses, owners, trainers and also to the memory of a young lad who was looking down on us that day."

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