ITV Racing Coverage Heavily Divides Opinion

'ITV has done to racing what Chris Evans did to Top Gear'
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Coverage of the sport transferred from its long-time home of Channel 4, debuting on New Year’s Day.

With host Ed Chamberlin, ITV is broadcasting 100 days in 2017 - 40 on ITV main channel and 60 on ITV4 covering:

...racing’s most celebrated events: the Grand National, The Epsom Derby, all the major festivals including Cheltenham and Royal Ascot, the Five Classics, plus other highlights of the racing calendar such as Future Champions Day at Newmarket and Champions Day at Ascot.

 

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The ITV Racing team of presenter Ed Chamberlain (R) with AP McCoy (C) and Luke Harvey at Cheltenham Racecourse on January 1.
Alan Crowhurst via Getty Images

So far, the coverage has prompted a mixed bag of responses.

First, the positive.

The supportive.

 

The negative.

 

The blunt.

 

And for the love of everything horsey, will someone please wipe the camera lens.

 

Race meetings to be shown live on ITV (main channel) in 2017:

January

Sun 1 - Cheltenham and Musselburgh

March

Tue 14 - Cheltenham Festival

Wed 15 - Cheltenham Festival

Thu 16 - Cheltenham Festival

Fri 17 - Cheltenham Festival

April

Thu 6 - Aintree Grand National Meeting

Fri 7 - Aintree Grand National Meeting

Sat 8 - Aintree Grand National Meeting

Sat 22 - Ayr & Newbury (Scottish Grand National)

Sat 29 - Sandown and Haydock (jumps finale)

May

Sat 6 - Newmarket and Goodwood (2,000 Guineas)

Sun 7 - Newmarket and Hamilton (1,000 Guineas)

Sat 20 - Newbury and Newmarket (Lockinge)

June

Fri 2 - Epsom Derby Meeting

Sat 3 - Epsom Derby Meeting

Tue 20 - Royal Ascot

Wed 21 - Royal Ascot

Thu 22 - Royal Ascot

Fri 23 - Royal Ascot

Sat 24 - Royal Ascot

July

Sat 1 - Newcastle and Newmarket (Northumberland Plate)

Sat 8 - Sandown and Haydock (Eclipse)

Sat 15 - ‘Super Saturday’ (Newmarket, Ascot, York)

Sat 29 - Ascot and York (King George)

August

Tue 1 - Glorious Goodwood

Wed 2 - Glorious Goodwood

Thu 3 - Glorious Goodwood

Fri 4 - Glorious Goodwood

Sat 5 - Glorious Goodwood

Wed 23 - York Ebor

Thu 24 - York Ebor

Fri 25 - York Ebor

Sat 26 - York Ebor

September

Sat 9 - Haydock, Ascot and Kempton (Sprint Cup)

Sat 16 - Doncaster and Chester (St Leger)

October

Sat 14 - Newmarket and York (Dewhurst)

Sat 21 - Ascot (British Champions Day)

November

Sat 18 - Cheltenham and Lingfield (Open Meeting, Middle Day)

Sat 25 - Haydock and Ascot (Betfair Chase)

December

Sat 2 - Newbury & Newcastle (Hennessy/Fighting Fifth)

Tue 26 - Kempton and Wetherby (King George)