ITV’s attempt to put horse racing back in the spotlight has received a polarised reception.
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.
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)