Cracksman pulls in viewers but ITV figures for Ascot still fall short

There were many positives to take away from Ascot after the seventh British Champions Day last weekend, not least the fact that 31,000 racegoers ignored the possible arrival of Storm Brian to see some of British racing’s biggest stars in the flesh. There were memorable performances too, not least from Cracksman and Frankie Dettori, still the most bankable star in the game, in a devastating Champion Stakes success which promised even better to come next year.

There was generous coverage on the main news broadcasts on Saturday evening too, and a distinctly youthful demographic among the crowd at the track, offering further encouragement that Champions Day is slowly finding the new audience it was designed to attract. The only negative, perhaps, was the somewhat disappointing viewing figures for ITV Racing’s coverage of the day, with an average audience of 0.5m viewers and a peak of 0.8m for Cracksman’s exceptional success in the Champion Stakes.

The numbers are an improvement on the disastrous average of 367,000 on Channel 4 in 2015, a nadir which was seen as a possible trigger for racing’s decision to shift the terrestrial rights to ITV a few months later. But 0.5m is still way below the 1.1m average for the final Champions Day on BBC1 in 2012, when Frankel’s last start was, admittedly, a huge draw for viewers with only a peripheral interest in the sport.

ITV is now approaching the end of the first year in its four-year deal, valued at £30m, and while several of the sport’s big days have enjoyed a lift in their television audience, the Grand National – down 18% from Channel 4’s figure in 2016 – and now Champions Day have not as yet followed suit.

Sunny weather across Britain on Grand National weekend in April received at least part of the blame for ITV’s lacklustre viewing figures but there is no such excuse for last Saturday’s numbers, when much of the country stayed at home to sit out the storm. While Ascot’s live attendance, up 2,000 on 2016, was impressive in the circumstances, ITV’s average share of the audience was 5%. As the country sheltered from the wind and rain, only one television in 20 was switched to ITV’s coverage.

Rod Street, the chief executive of British Champions Series, said on Monday that the meeting’s organisers were pleased to see the ratings increase.

“We were really pleased with the increase in audience figures for Qipco British Champions Day,” Street said. “The coverage afforded by ITV was top notch and they did a fantastic job of capturing the spirit of the day and conveying all the excitement of the Flat season’s finale.”

ITV’s peak figure of 0.8m for Cracksman’s success in the Champion Stakes was the highest since the coverage left the BBC and the colt’s brilliant performance under Frankie Dettori was a fine advertisement for the sport for those who watched it.

There still seems to be plenty of work for ITV to do over the next three years of its contract, however, if it is to establish Champions Day as a fixture to rank alongside racing’s other traditional showpiece events in the minds of armchair fans.

Arrogate, whose status as the world’s top-rated horse has been threatened both by Enable and Cracksman in recent weeks, hinted at a return to the form of his exceptional win in the Dubai World Cup in a workout at Santa Anita on Monday, when he covered seven furlongs in 1min 25.40sec as part of the preparation for his final race in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday week.

Arrogate beat California Chrome in a thrilling renewal of last year’s Classic and became the highest earner in racing history with an extraordinary performance in the Dubai World Cup at Meydan in March. He has failed to win either of his two subsequent starts, however, with Bob Baffert, his trainer, suggesting that the success in Dubai may have taken more out of the four-year-old than he had realised.

Monday’s workout was close to the time of 1min 25sec which Arrogate clocked in a workout before his win in Dubai. He remains top-priced at 3-1 for the Classic in a market headed by the 7-4 chance Gun Runner, who finished two-and-a-quarter lengths behind him at Meydan.

Greg Wood’s tips for Tuesday

Exeter

2.20 Get Ready Freddy 2.50 Lalor 3.20 Talk Of The South 3.50 Midnight Glory 4.20 Market Road 4.50 Yanworth 5.20 Volcano

Newcastle

1.40 Angel In The Snow 2.10 Burcan 2.40 Qianlong 3.10 It Dont Come Easy (nap) 3.40 Subhaan 4.10 Summerghand (nb) 4.40 Indian Pursuit 5.10 Canford Bay

Yarmouth

1.30 Orchid Lily 2.00 Hameem 2.30 Falcon’s Vision 3.00 Zizum 3.30 Big Sigh 4.00 Rubis 4.30 Twilight Spirit 5.00 Sentinel

Kempton Park

5.45 Secratario 6.15 Kafeel 6.45 Misty Spirit 7.15 Masked Defender 7.45 Show Stealer 8.15 Harlequin Storm 8.45 Four Kingdoms 9.15 Choral Clan