Dan Skelton and Paul Nicholls © Photo Healy Racing
Starting at 9pm Sunday 15th September on Virgin Media One, six-part series Champions: Full Gallop is about high speed, high obstacles, high emotions, high risk and even higher stakes.
Champions: Full Gallop aims to get under the skin of the game's gods, lifting the lid on one of the most thrilling sports on the planet, gaining unprecedented access to the major players, high rollers, and key protagonists.
It reveals:
A fly on the wall view of the weighing room.
The reason millionaire banker and owner Rich Ricci can’t reveal how much he has invested in racehorses.
Paul Nicholls’ unedited and raw reaction when his former protege Dan Skelton “pokes the bear”.
Weighing room antics & midrace mind games during the biggest festival of the year.
A unique insight into Dan Skelton and jockey Harry’s unbreakable bond as brothers.
How Willie Mullins plundered the dreams and coffers of British racing.
A close look at Nico de Boinville’s home life and what goes through his mind when he hits the turf.
Viewers will get a backstage pass to the lives of jockeys and trainers connected to horses competing during the 2023-24 Jumps season.
Taking in all the elements that make racing such a compelling sport, from the visceral risk a jockey takes while perched on top of a 500kg thoroughbred as they soar over fences, to the owners — salt-of-the-earth syndicates to royalty — and trainers and stable staff who invest so much in the welfare of their horses.
Produced by South Shore, supported by Flutter and Racecourse Media Group (RMG), the programme gives fans access all areas, from weighing rooms to stable yards, as cameras follow the dramatic high-octane thrills, emotion, and drama both on and off the racetrack.
Champions: Full Gallop has exclusive interviews with jockeys Harry Skelton, Harry Cobden, and Sean Bowen in their rollercoaster fight for the title of Champion Jockey, to 14-time British champion trainer Paul Nicholls’ efforts to retain his crown as his former assistant Dan Skelton nips at his heels...until the shadow of Willie Mullins looms large.
Racing, like you’ve never seen it before.
“Injuries are part of the game. It’s not a matter of if, but when.” - Nico de Boinville.
“There’s good banter with the other jockeys. When you’re doing something like we do, where ambulances follow you around, you can’t be too serious.” - Gavin Sheehan.
“If you ask Sir Alex Ferguson about all his years at Man United, he’ll tell you it was all about winning.” - Paul Nicholls.
“He (Frodon) always held me tight, and for that I owe him everything.” - Bryony Frost.
