Racing Post: Racing Self-Congratulation Over National – Sport Facing Challenges

IT’s a condition that has become increasingly rampant on ITV’s watch. Whereas the bygone terrestrial coverage on BBC and Channel 4 was defined by the discerning analysis of individuals such as Julian Wilson, Sir Peter O’Sullevan, Jim McGrath, or Tanya Stevenson, Ed Chamberlin sets a more effusive tone.

These days, we are bombarded with how wonderful and amazing everything is, which it may well be, but the urge to keep telling viewers as much smacks of insecurity. Pictures of horses in peak condition or a sumptuous racecourse really ought to speak for themselves.

Maybe it is the sort of output that racing requires on terrestrial TV nowadays, but ITV lays it on pretty thick.