Ed Chamberlin: 'City Of Troy's Breeders' Cup Classic bid has the potential to cut through to that big sports audience'

ITV Racing’s lead presenter Ed Chamberlin hopes City Of Troy’s Breeders’ Cup Classic bid can "cut through" to a wider sports audience on Saturday night.

It was reported in September that ITV would not televise the internationally renowned meeting, but the terrestrial channel revealed this month that a two-hour broadcast would be shown on ITV4 covering the Distaff, Turf and Classic races.

Chamberlin believes the rescheduling of programmes to enable a Breeders’ Cup broadcast shows ITV’s commitment to the sport, particularly at the prime time of 8pm-10pm.

The weekly English Football League Highlights show on ITV4 has been moved back to a 10pm start, while ITV’s main channel will show The Chase Celebrity Special and first episode of new game show Romesh Ranganathan’s Parents’ Evening in the same hours normally restricted to entertainment programmes.

Chamberlin said: “Putting racing on ITV on a Friday or Saturday night has been different and this year the EFL Highlights have had to move, and it’s very difficult to slot in on a terrestrial channel.

“It was much more difficult to get in on a terrestrial channel than people might think because you have contracts with different programmes and sports, but they have moved everything around, which hopefully shows ITV’s commitment to horseracing.

“It will be fascinating to see how many people watch on Saturday evening, which is entertainment time on ITV and the BBC, but I’m hopeful City Of Troy will cut through.”

City Of Troy: 7-4 favourite for the Breeders' Cup ClassicCredit: Edward Whitaker

Chamberlin will host the channel’s afternoon coverage of the feature jumps action in Britain and Ireland, with ITV4 taking the NBC feed in the US for its Breeders’ Cup show in the evening.

It is a change in approach after the team flew out to Del Mar to cover the meeting in 2021 and had Oli Bell on course gaining reaction for the last two years, with a presenting team back in Britain.

Chamberlin said on Wednesday: “Last year we were in a Wetherby car park until one o’clock in the morning on both days, so it will be a bit different this year.

“We’ll be taking the excellent NBC coverage for our three live races this time, so I’ll be on my way back down the M1 from Wetherby and hoping to get back in time to watch it. City Of Troy’s Classic bid is a really good story and it’s been an important part of ITV’s coverage through the summer.

City Of Troy (yellow saddle cloth) leads Aidan O'Brien's string at Del MarCredit: Edward Whitaker

“We’ve been quite reliant on him really. He’s been the one horse who potentially could cut through to that big sports audience and it’s encouraging what we’re reading from bookmakers in the Racing Post on the levels of interest in him.”

Down Royal’s Ladbrokes Champion Chase is set to feature the return of Aintree Bowl winner Gerri Colombe  and is one of ten jumps races scheduled for ITV4’s coverage on Saturday afternoon.

Chamberlin, who is hoping the weather does not scupper plans for several of the key weekend runners, said: “When I saw the entries at the start of the week I thought this will be so good, so I'm hoping some of the sport's A-listers who have been declared are able to take their chance.

"Jump racing is so popular and the numbers for Cheltenham last weekend were very strong.”

The Breeders' Cup meeting will be televised in full on Sky Sports Racing and Racing TV on Friday and Saturday.

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The 2024 Breeders' Cup kicks off at Del Mar on FridayCredit: Edward Whitaker

Read more . . .

John Gosden: 'If City Of Troy gets a clear run I doubt they'd catch him - I think he'd outclass them' 

Confirmed runners and riders for the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby and Gerri Colombe's return at Down Royal 

'He really is breaking new ground' - bookmakers report unprecedented ante-post interest in City Of Troy's Classic bid 

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