Lets face it, no horse racing fan wants to pay a subscription to watch the racing in the UK today, so why not watch the free horse racing which is broadcast on terrestrial TV for free in the UK?
It was a momentous year for racing when ITV took over as broadcast partner for British horse racing, bringing with them top class coverage and in-depth analysis.
Spearheaded by Ed Chamberlain, the team quickly made their mark with a new style of presenting that brought a fresh feel to the coverage. We take an in-depth look at the features that ITV Racing brought to the sport in 2016.
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Thats where ITV racing come in, who have taken over as official broadcaster in the UK since 2016.
Read our guide on how to watch the action and what the schedule is. With ITV Racing you can enjoy race after race of top class sport from around the world, whether you’re a fan of jump racing, flat racing, or just enjoy supporting your local horse racing club.
We’ve brought together some of the best features of sports broadcasting to give you the best way to watch the sport today.
ITV Racing Schedule Today
ITV Racing shows the big races from all over the UK, Ireland and France – thanks to our stable of expert commentators.
Whether it’s a morning meeting from Newmarket or an afternoon race from Cheltenham, there are two presenters in the studio, with three others at tracks across the country.
These secondary presenters will be joined by astute analysts who bring their own expertise and knowledge to discussing the sport in depth.
ITV racing Tomorrow
From the Showpiece of the Turf to the Classics of the Future, ITV Sport brings you in-depth analysis and comment from some of the world’s sharpest racing minds.
Oli Bell leads a team of experts at our purpose-built racecourse studio in the heart of Newmarket racecourse, while our top broadcasters cover all the action from around the country, bringing you closer to all the horses, jockeys and trainers you care about.
What are ITV Races?
ITV Races is the flagship horse racing show on the ITV television channel in the United Kingdom. The ITV is free to air in the UK, meaning that punters and horse racing fans can watch all the racing for free in the UK.
Horse racing on UK television was previously with Channel 4 Racing, however in 2007 ITV secured the rights to broadcast one hundred days of racing in the UK.
The program is hosted by racing guru Ed Chamberlain and is broadcast live from the main events in the UK, such as the Grand National, Cheltenham Festival or Epsom Derby.
The ITV Racing channel will show horse races from every UK racing venue, as well as the ITV 7 Racing Competition, including Royal Ascot and every other major racecourse, live on the five-day-a-week channel. It will also feature racing in Ireland, France, Germany and Australia.
ITV Racing is the new home for British horse racing on terrestrial television. With in-depth coverage of every race and feature from the best action sourced from the track, viewers can now follow their favourite jockeys and trainers or simply see what’s going on at all of the courses they love to visit.
When do you update the ITV Racing Schedule?
The ITV Racing Schedule is updated when the official television schedule has been announced by ITV. This would normally appear on the ITV website or the ITV Hub, which can be accessed via the ‘apps’ on your Smart TV.
Or you can visit the ITV website for further TV listings.
ITV Racing have had a busy 18 months since they took over as the dominant force in horse racing on terrestrial television.
Since then, they’ve introduced a number of features that may not be obvious to a casual viewer but go a long way towards improving the overall product for both new and old fans of the sport.
How can I bet on the Horse Racing on ITV?
There are a number of ways you can bet on the horse racing on ITV. The main one is to sign up to a bookmaker account which provides odds on horses from UK racecourses. Of course, every reputable bookmaker in the UK will let you bet on the racing.
The most popular is the Bet365, with the Bet365 horse racing section on the app one of the most popular betting companies today, where you can bet on the tote placepot.
Sign up with them and you should have all your bases covered for the Grand National and Cheltenham Festival 2025.
What are the ITV Tips for today?
There are plenty of resources to get racing tips on the ITV races for today. You can do your own research if you want or take the advice of a seasoned horse racing tipster such as Steve Mullen, who tips in the Sun newspaper.
Templegate tips are one of the most well known horse racing tipsters in the UK and if you want a quick bet or tip on the race then he’s your man.
You can find a tip on any ITV race on the Sun official website or in the newspaper.
ITV Racing Saturday
When it was announced that ITV would be the new home of horse racing, the world of racing changed. ITV have been doing a good job at engaging with their audience and providing top class coverage on all races, as well as new features to help everyone follow races more easily.
Saturday racing is the mainstay focus of ITV Racing’s coverage.
The exact format of the Saturday show depends on the day’s cards. Ed Chamberlain and the other main presenters will head to whichever is considered to be the biggest meeting, where the shows tipster take us through the Coral connect card, shown live in the UK and dissected by the pundits.
ITV Racing Cheltenham
ITV Racing’s biggest outreach comes through with the general public and therefore the best viewing figures come during the biggest meetings such as the Cheltenham Festival, and of course there are plenty of Cheltenham festival free bets to use on the ITV card..
If the days racing is deemed not to be too important it is featured on ITV4. Major meetings such as Cheltenham are moved to the main channel and given extra coverage.
The Cheltenham pundits certainly know their racing and go the extra mile to make their coverage the best it can be.
This isn’t possible without expert knowledge and they employ a great deal of people who are keen racegoers and bettors, as well as seasoned broadcasters such as Mark Rathbone, Nick Luck, Richard Hoiles and Graham Goode.
ITV Racing Presenters – Ed Chamberlain
Ed Chamberlain’s love of horse racing is not just confined to watching the action unfold in front of him, as anybody who has caught an episode of ITV Racing will tell you.
A few weeks ago he travelled to the annual Cheltenham festival and stood in a downpour that was probably as wet as his new-found colleagues Gary Thompson, Darren Powell and Tony O’Hehir managed all season.
Matt Chapman
Mixing a passion for horse racing with a love of showbiz gossip and edgy humour, ITV racing’s very own Matt Chapman is an experienced sports presenter who takes no prisoners on ITV Racing. A regular face on the Opening Show from across the spectrum, Chapman has been known to eat more than his fair share of humble pie when it comes to betting on sport.
Oli Bell
Oli Bell one of the most well known presenters on ITV Racing. Like many of his colleagues, he plays a varied role which is somewhere between presenter, horse racing punter and tipster.
Bell normally presents the Opening Show where he chairs proceedings and gets stuck into the debate himself alongside his fellow presenters and an illustrious selection of former jockeys.
He is also the face of the Social Stable, where he interacts with fans at the course and viewers who are following along on social media alongside Chris Hughes.
ITV Racing is a great place to start watching the horse racing, and they have all the major horse racing pundits on board with them, especially around the big race meetings such as Cheltenham or the Grand National.
The only drawback is sometimes they do not show every race from a racecourse or meeting, but if you just want to watch the main races of the day for free in the UK then look no further than ITV racing.
You can watch through terrestrial TV, or through the ITV hub on your smart television.