'THE MORNING SHOW'.

​Let’s begin by saying how lucky we are to have a one-hour programme on terrestrial television dedicated to the sport we love. We must appreciate the fortunate position we are in and support I.T.V.’s efforts to promote the sport both with their live racing coverage and ‘The Morning Show’ on both a Saturday and on the mornings of the major meetings.
I do wonder, though, if using the same formula for the Cheltenham Festival, the Grand National meeting and Royal Ascot as they do on the ordinary Saturday programme is the best way to grab the attention of the speculative viewer or the viewer surprised not to have his usual programme on at 9.30 and cannot be bothered to switch channels.
During this morning’s otherwise excellent ‘Morning Show’, there were mentions of films to be seen during the racing in the afternoon and I could not help but think that ‘The Morning Show’ would have been a better place to view these short films. Outside of the world of the dedicated racing fan the story of Richard and Kayley Woollacott would be unknown. To tell that story to an audience perhaps fresh to the sport, who has stumbled over ‘The Morning Show’ by accident, might engage them, might entice the viewer better effect to tune into the racing in the afternoon to see how, in this case, Lalor, gets on. Horse racing is imbued with human interest stories on a daily basis. It is a sport that rafts the rapids of life with tales of derring-do, tragedy and sheer undiluted joy.
As entertaining as Matt Chapman might be to you or me, as was proved by his short-lived stint on ‘Dancing on Ice’ rather sadly proved, he perhaps will more likely alienate the uninitiated rather than engage their curiosity. On the other hand, films about horses, the people who care for them and how they are trained, and films about the work of Greatwood and the retraining of racehorses etc, might spark the viewers interest and persuade them to the realisation that the sport is far more than just a medium for the winning and losing of money.
Horse racing’s main problem when it comes to growing a larger audience is one of perception. I have argued for a good while now that horse racing is in the main a sport of the working classes. Grooms, racecourse workers, betting shop employees, trainers by and large, even the majority of t.v. presenters, are from working class backgrounds. It is only at the upper echelons of the sport that ‘the Royal Ascot elite’ impression that people outside of racing have ingrained in their heads is to be found.
I can assure anyone reading this piece that people with no actual real-life experience of racing believe the sport is either all about betting or an amusement for the mega-rich. We will never grow the audience until these perceptions are known to be false, a left-over of a time long gone.
The heartbeat of this sport is not found in the betting ring but in stables at the crack of dawn. This is where the truth of the sport should be drawn. Depictions of the hard work, dedication and love of the horse, if distributed amongst the masses through programmes like ‘The Morning Show’, would better serve the promotion and marketing of the sport rather than the enthusiasm of the teller at the amounts of money being wagered on any single horse.
Of course it is all too easy to criticise, to offer well-meant advice and suggestion when you have no idea of budget. But when there is a captive audience it is beholding on the programme-maker to captivate and during Cheltenham this weekday mornings and during Aintree and Royal Ascot, I have the impression that I.T.V. are missing an opportunity. The horse is our best advertising and marketing tool. That is where we should go to win hearts and engage minds.