Ed Chamberlin keen to educate and invigorate viewers when ITV Racing returns

ITV Racing plans to resume broadcasting British racing with three days of action starting on June 5, which will take in the first Classics of the season, the Qipco 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas.

On-air times and which channel the programmes will be on have yet to be decided, but lead presenter Ed Chamberlin has vowed that he, and the rest of the team, will "throw the kitchen sink" at the channel's coverage with the prospect of new viewers tuning in.

Chamberlin said: "There are all sorts of things we can do potentially and everything is going to be done under the strictest guidelines.

"We are going to adhere to every safety rule going but there's no reason why you couldn't have a microphone stationed outside the weighing room for example.

"It would be nice to think in the first few weeks we might be able to get a reporter to the track, you just don't know, and to be able to do interviews adhering to social distance rules. Who knows, it's all pretty uncertain but we will throw the kitchen sink at it."

Ed Chamberlin's office at home where he will be broadcasting from

The provisional plan for the first day back would be to show action from Newmarket, with the Coronation Cup the feature race, alongside Lingfield's Derby and Oaks Trials.

ITV Racing's presenting team will be adhering to strict social distancing guidelines for the programmes, and have recently trialled a broadcast with Chamberlin, Francesca Cumani, Jason Weaver and Richard Hoiles working from home.

Chamberlin added: "It's not just the presentation team working remotely and from home, it's everybody across the board.

"The second trial we did when we used some races from York last year went really well, which gave us the confidence we'll be able to do it.

"There are a few things we need to change. The challenge you have as a presenter is you get delays on the pictures on the monitor and with some of the people you are speaking to, but we can iron some of that stuff out and be ready to go by June 5."

Ed Chamberlin: 'It will be important to be very sensitive'Credit: Edward Whitaker

Chamberlin said he had not previously felt such great responsibility in a television presenting career going back to 1999.

"On behalf of racing I need to explain how it is going ahead," he added. "I need to explain to a disgruntled football fan who hasn't got his or her football to look forward to how racing is happening. We'll explain that in great detail with help from the BHA and Great British Racing.

"It will be important to be very sensitive with all that's going on in the world. I am sure there will be people watching who have been suffering over the last few weeks and could have lost a loved one. We have got to be very sensitive to that and it's very important we all get the tone right and explain things well.

"But then what an opportunity to explain all about racing and hopefully we'll get a big audience so we can show how cool racing is. I am very excited about showing all the good racing has done, the money racing has raised."

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