Horse racing will get a new twilight Sunday slot on ITV4 this summer with launch of the Sky Bet Sunday Series.
In a collaboration with three UK racecourses, Racecourse Media Group, ITV and Sky Bet, the new series will comprise of three race meetings, which will be run at Musselburgh, Haydock Park and Sandown Park respectively this July and August.
The three seven-race Sunday cards will be showcased live in their entirety on ITV4 and online via the ITV Hub, and will be broadcast in a mid-afternoon/early evening slot, running from 3.45pm to 7pm.
ITV Racing says its coverage of the new Sunday Series will “delve behind the scenes and uncover the less-told stories about what goes into preparing a horse for racing, and what goes into staging a raceday itself”, as well as features on the grass roots of the sport, such as pony racing, as well as showcasing horses, trainers and jockeys who don’t often get into the limelight.
The Sunday Series is also an attempt to build on the success of ITV’s increased horse racing coverage on Sundays last year.
Oli Bell will host ITV Racing’s coverage of the three race meetings. He said:
“We are delighted to be hosting three days of terrific Sunday racing in the summer which will give viewers three bonanza weekends of terrestrial racing. We are particularly looking forward to showcasing ‘behind the scenes’ activity to engage viewers at home with all the participants involved in a race day, both equine and human, and racing at its grass roots.
“It’s really important to us that we recognise the bigger and smaller names in the sport as well as the owners and stable staff and this series gives us a great opportunity to continue to do that on ITV.”
The Sky Bet Sunday Series compliments a packed ITV Racing schedule this summer, which includes major Flat meetings such as Royal Ascot, July Festival, Glorious Goodwood, Ebor Festival and the St Leger Festival.
Ed Gretton, director of racing at Racecourse Media Group, added:
“It has long been the view of many in the industry that the sport does not make enough of the opportunity of Sunday racing. We see this as a pilot scheme focused on providing good quality racing and betting opportunities in front of a terrestrial audience, and hopefully it will be a prelude to an expanded series in 2022.
“RMG racecourses are delighted to be part of the launch of The Sky Bet Sunday Series and RMG’s TV channel, Racing TV, will also be getting behind the series.”
Scroll down below to see the full ITV4 schedule for the 2021 Sky Bet Summer Series, while information about ITV Racing’s coverage can be found via itv.com/racing.
For a full list of all forthcoming major live horse racing events on the box, visit SOTB’s dedicated racing TV listings page.
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SUNDAY 25th JULY
Musselburgh
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SUNDAY 8th AUGUST
Haydock
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SUNDAY 22nd AUGUST
Sandown
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