'It's like Pep Guardiola getting Erling Haaland back' - the inside story of the jockeys' title race in episode two of Champions: Full Gallop

Episode two of Champions: Full Gallop, the new behind-the-scenes docuseries on jump racing, aired in a primetime slot on ITV1 at 9pm on Friday night. Scott Burton provides a recap of the action as Sean Bowen and Harry Cobden chase a first jockeys' championship crown.

Where the opening episode of Champions: Full Gallop spent an hour telling the captivating story around a single race, the King George, we now embark on a longer narrative revolving around the jockeys' title, although really it is a meditation on the risk and reward in this most dangerous of sports.

Harry Cobden was among the wide cast of characters introduced in the build-up to the King George, when his relationship with boss Paul Nicholls – whose Ditcheat base was arguably second only to Kempton racecourse in terms of important locations – was firmly established.

Then it was the single task of winning aboard Bravemansgame which consumed Cobden's time on air but, by the time we see the drone aerials of Manor Farm and the now-familiar golden location graphics, we have met a new character in the unfolding drama.

Sean Bowen wasn't even at Kempton on Boxing Day but, as we see him riding work at Olly Murphy's yard in a Warwickshire countryside permanently wreathed in mist, we learn that he comes from a family steeped in racing and that he is 30 winners clear in the race to become champion.

"I was never very good at school and Dad always used to say to Mum, you don't need an A-level to ride a horse," says Bowen, an unassuming man who, as we will discover, is about to go through the toughest six weeks of his career.

Sean Bowen with Go Dante at trainer Olly Murphy's yard in WarwickshireCredit: South Shore/ITV1/ITVX

Cobden also reveals he missed his maths and English GCSE exams to make his rules debut in a hunter chase at Leicester ("It worked out quite well in the end because the horse won"), arguably an important piece of balance in the audience's decision of who to root for, given that we know he has the pick of the rides from the most powerful yard in the country.

And, just as Shishkin's dramatic exit from the King George acted as the fulcrum to the action in episode one, so the sight of a prostrate Bowen at the back of the second-last hurdle at Aintree following a fall on Farren Glory (also on Boxing Day), pivots us from jovial rivalry to what could be a decisive advantage for Cobden.

'When you're not riding, you're not earning'

Nico de Boinville was one of several riders to shine in their interviews in the King George episode and we now learn that the producers of Champions: Full Gallop really did strike lucky in choosing to begin filming at Christmas.

Nicky Henderson's stable number one breaks his collarbone the day after the disappointment of falling on Shishkin, and Bowen does not have the run of the rehab facilities at Oaksey House for long before De Boinville joins him in racing's hurt locker.

"How's your knee?" asks De Boinville, to which Bowen shoots back: "Better than your shoulder!"

Until now a forlorn-looking Bowen has been pictured watching a succession of Cobden victories at home, with his girlfriend Harriet Matthews providing the commentary to his sullen frustration.

Partners and spouses are a staple of the sports documentary and it is to the producers' credit that they don't make Sean and Harriet's interactions appear nearly as contrived as some other shows (Italian rugby international Sebastian Negri won't be able to rely on his girlfriend seeking out an acting career when his playing days are over if Full Contact on Netflix is anything to go by).

We also see De Boinville with his daughters in their lavish Cotswolds home, and his reflections on the emotional and financial strain of injury are expertly intercut with shots of the family at play.

Nico de Boinville opens up on the pressures of injury in episode two of Champions: Full GallopCredit: South Shore/ITV1/ITVX

De Boinville says: "I think you first get into racing because you love it. I don't think the danger side of it comes into it, I don't think you think about it. But none of us are on contracts, we're all self-employed. The more we're at home, not riding, we're not earning."

The drills which Bowen is put through at Oaksey House show the grit inside him to get back as soon as he can, and in a sense the fitness test he has to pass to the satisfaction of sports therapist and fitness coach Rob Treviss is the most dramatic sequence in the entire 45 minutes.

"If I notice that you become unstable on that knee, I will stop you," Treviss warns Bowen, who is clearly completely spent at the conclusion of his ordeal.

Halfway through his rehab the championship leader had expressed the hope that he would still be 15 ahead of Cobden when he got the all-clear to return. In fact his lead will be down to just two winners.

Champions: Full Gallop

When to watch, TV details, where to stream and more

Back to the track

Most of the racing action through the first half an hour has been restricted to shots of Cobden crossing the line in front and snatched debriefs with Nicholls, as Bowen's lead shrinks.

The only sequence to really build any kind of detail comes at a Wincanton meeting where Cobden boots home three winners from four rides, with behind-the-scenes footage from the weighing room after Bowen's brother James denies him the four-timer.

But with both Sean Bowen and De Boinville passed by the doctor to resume on Newbury's Betfair Hurdle card, we get a full final third of the show back at the heart of the action.

It is here that the producers get the benefit of both circumstance – two jockeys central to the narrative who were injured at the same time coming back to lock horns – and the fact that the big ITV days are covered by a lot more in the way of cameras.

Harry Cobden and Ito Ditto before the Betfair Hurdle at NewburyCredit: South Shore/ITV1/ITVX

As with the King George in episode one, we get the mic'd-up thoughts of the jockeys circling at the start, with Cobden sure he won't be winning as Ito Ditto frets away his chances while Ocastle Des Mottes is attended to by the farrier.

And the relevance of De Boinville's story being told in parallel to the two title contenders becomes clear as he conjures a winning run on Iberico Lord in the feature race.

We close with Cobden winning on his final ride of the day, and the deficit is down to one in a race that is set to run all the way to the final episode of the season.

Winners and losers

Cobden and De Boinville built on the favourable impression they made in the King George episode, while it's impossible not to root for Bowen in his efforts to get back to fitness and resume his fight to be champion.

Alan Johns may still have bragging rights as the biggest weighing-room character to come out of Wales, but Bowen's human qualities are revealed as he goes through the pain barrier at Oaksey House.

Harry Cobden in the weighing room at Newbury during episode two of ITV's Champions: Full GallopCredit: South Shore/ITV1/ITVX

The various ITV Racing narrators are used a bit more judiciously than was the case in part one, while the characters of Nicholls and Henderson are beginning to become more clearly defined.

Line of the week

Olly Murphy is a fleeting presence but almost steals the prize when he says of Bowen's return to fitness: "It's like Pep Guardiola getting Erling Haaland back."

But that man Cobden wins out with reflections on the relentless nature of pursuing the title. Driving to Wincanton, he reflects: "I had seven rides at Cheltenham on Saturday, I had five rides at Fontwell on Sunday . . . can't remember where I went on Monday but I definitely went somewhere."

Where and when to watch Champions: Full Gallop

Episode three of the docuseries will be broadcast on ITV1 at 9pm on Friday, August 2
Now available to stream on ITVX: episode 1, episode 2 and episode 3

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