This time last year, presenting the Welcome To Yorkshire Ebor Festival at an empty York, was a pretty miserable experience.
In contrast this week has been the polar opposite. The roar from the stands when Stradivarius and Spanish Mission went head to head, toe to toe, up the straight in the Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup was spine-tingling. It was a race for the ages but it was especially poignant when you consider what people have been through.
I think the good people of Yorkshire just let out a wall of noise to celebrate racing being back on the Knavesmire and celebrate seeing one of the great head-to-heads in the history of this meeting. It was an epic battle.
I was at pains afterwards to stress this wasn’t all-about Frankie Dettori, we are criticised at times for being too Frankie-centric but he’s the one person in this sport who takes us to different places.
But Friday was about Stradivarius. It was his 29th race and 18th win during six years of racing. His longevity has been quite remarkable and that moment for me was all about his bravery and toughness.
Frankie said afterwards he was like a 100 metres runner who knew where the line was, he stretched out his neck at just the right time.
But now we have to reflect on the man in the saddle – and what an amazing ride it was. He’s over 50 now, rode two miles with his tip-toes in the stirrups and to have the strength and skill to do what he did at the end of the race was remarkable.
Just watch the replay again, see how he switches his whip at the right moment for the final crucial piece of momentum. He was simply brilliant.
Then came the Gimcrack which I said on ITV was a little like playing the match after the men’s final on Centre Court at Wimbledon.
York was buzzing and while the Gimcrack had an excellent winner in Lusail, the place came alive again when Winter Power won the Coolmore Wootton Basset Nunthorpe Stakes. What better than to have a local winner of the big race.
The Easterby dynasty is remarkable – from Peter and Mick starting churning out the winners 50 years or so ago through to Tim’s team of 2021. They were all here to celebrate, Thomas, William and Emily with their grandparents too. It was a magic moment – and Friday was almost the perfect day.
It’s been a fabulous week full stop. The first two days were about monster performances, Mishriff in the Juddmonte International provided the wow factor. We didn’t learn anything new about Snowfall in the Darley Yorskshire Oaks but patently she’s very, very good.
And the Sky Bet Ebor? What a day it was for our ITV colleague Johnny Murtagh. After being among the winners at Royal Ascot and the Qatar Goodwood Festival he was at it again, winning the richest handicap in Europe for the second time.
And he might not be finished yet with the Cazoo St Leger and Emirates Melbourne Cup both in his sights.
York set the right tone
I’ve been at a number of sporting events recently where I’ve witnessed anti-social behaviour – be that at cricket, football or racing.
I want to commend York for showing how to prevent – and react to it. I was at Lord’s last Saturday and there didn’t seem to be a police presence at all. We had a streaker, a pitch invader, some awful language in the stands too.
I’ve loved The Hundred but it hasn’t been the family event it was supposed to be at the fixtures I’ve attended.
We know about the fighting at Goodwood and football is always a difficult place to take my 12-year-old son. The problem seems to be worse than ever at the moment.
But the key at York is they’ve had eight sniffer dogs on the ground and 44 police officers on duty all week. They’ve had to fund it themselves but these measures send out a message from the off. There’s nowhere more welcoming than York – but that welcome is a robust one.
If you’re coming here and you’re thinking if I get thrown out by a steward what’s the worst that can happen? A fine?
But if I get chucked out by a police officer that could cost me my job. It would be a permanent stain on my CV.
I commend York for funding this and it’s meant we’ve had four days from what I’ve seen that have been peaceful. Plenty of high spirits but I’ve not seen a hint of trouble.
I’m on a crusade at the moment to try and get as many families as possible to come racing. We’ve seen families galore here and that’s so important. As a parent you get to the end of August and the holidays are dragging on and you’re spending a fortune to go to places like Legoland or adventure parks.
Unaccompanied 18-year-olds can come racing for free. I put that message out on Twitter and the immediate response is why would we go there? People are taking drugs and causing problems aren’t they?
No they’re not. There have been incidents but most of the time it’s a brilliant place to bring your family and enjoy a wonderful day out.
The entertainment game
I hope everyone has enjoyed ITV’s coverage this week. For me as a presenter it’s been heaven to be able to use the new state-of-the-art eagle-eye camera which has shown off York like never before. Some of the footage has been absolutely breathtaking.
Well done again to William Derby for having the foresight to give us the green light to use it and I hope people at home have enjoyed seeing the shots.
I made the mistake of going through Twitter on Thursday evening which I shouldn’t do and I was startled to see the comments people were making about what they call our ‘fashion segments’.
They have to understand we’re not a racing channel, we’re showing the sport on an entertainment platform. That’s a big part of it. I love the fact we can go from a piece on sectional timing to a fashion feature.
That’s what we’re about. Our ethos is having something for everyone and people have to realise that. There has only been about four minutes of footage around fashion this week out of all the hours we’ve broadcast.
And those sections are important. Brands like Coast are investing in our sport and sponsoring here so it’s good to shine the light on it at times. It also gives us cross-promotion on shows like Good Morning Britain and Lorraine which are hopefully part of why we’ve been able to increase racing’s audience so dramatically over the last four years.
810,000 people watched Stradivarius win on Friday. After a difficult few weeks post-lockdown when people have been out enjoying themselves again and not watching television, our audience share this week has been excellent.
We need to bring the fun of the racecourse to the people back home. My favourite piece from Mark Hayes this week is when he went across to the stable staff canteen and showed how well they are looked after at this track.
Anna Lisa Balding says this is the course their grooms want to come to more than any other with the free food and drink and accommodation that’s on offer.
Mark was able to shine a light on that which is what ITV Racing is all about.
York marks the final major summer festival. We’ve had a tremendous season so far, the likes of Adayar, Snowfall, St Mark’s Basilica, Hurricane Lane and Palace Pier lighting up some of the biggest races.
Now it’s the autumn programme we close in on and some potentially blockbusting clashes between the stars of 2021. It promises to be special.
