A peak audience of 1.4 million viewers watched the opening episode of ITV’s docuseries “Champions: Full Gallop” on Friday evening. While it may be a stretch to suggest that it had much to do with an 18% boost to the crowd for Market Rasen’s Summer Plate meeting the following afternoon, the “Full Gallop glow” seems sure to keep the winter code on good terms with itself for some time yet.
But this is (in theory at least) the great British summertime, and there is rather less of a buzz in the air before one of the Flat’s showpiece events, the King George & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot. Any lingering hopes that Aidan O’Brien’s City Of Troy, an exceptional winner of the Derby and Eclipse, might line up for this year’s race were finally dashed when he failed to appear among the 11 five-day declarations on Monday.
