Ed Chamberlin: 'Having a striking grey for a terrestrial audience makes him all the more appealing - he’s going to capture attention'

Ed Chamberlin has hailed impressive three-year-old miler Field Of Gold as “manna from heaven” for engaging fans for the rest of the Flat season after his dominant victory in last week's St James’s Palace Stakes.

ITV Racing’s lead presenter said the son of Kingman's win was a “breakthrough moment” in terms of audience awareness during a week brimming with stellar performances and compelling storylines.

The three-way clash between Field Of Gold, Ruling Court and Henri Matisse was anticipated to be the race of the week before the royal meeting and lived up to expectations with a barnstorming three-and-a-half-length success for Field Of Gold.

The style of the victory, coupled with the colt's striking grey colouring, is likely to be a potent mix for terrestrial television audiences over the coming weeks, according to Chamberlin.

• Field Of Gold camp eye Group 1 options after 'complete' Ascot performance earns blockbuster rating 

“His performance was manna from heaven for us,” he said. “He was brilliant and that’s one thing, but for a terrestrial audience to have a striking grey, that just makes him all the more appealing. It’s a cliche, but people really do love them.”

The Qatar Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood and the Juddmonte International at York's Ebor meeting are now among the potential targets for Field Of Gold, and Chamberlin believes he will act as a big draw with the public.

“If he runs in the races they’ve spoken about for him, he’s going to capture people’s attention and that’s exciting for everyone," he said. "That performance in the St James’s Palace had a wow factor and was a breakthrough moment that’s going to help him build a following. 

“We want people to build relationships with horses and to become familiar with them, and I think Tuesday’s performance is going to allow that to happen and there will be people wanting to see him again.”

Viewing levels built through the week on ITV Racing, with average audience share across the five days being 11.7 per cent, an increase of 20 per cent compared to last year.

Ed Chamberlin: happy with TV figures considering the glorious weatherCredit: Getty Images

Chamberlin said the ITV team had been pleased with engagement during a heatwave, and praised Ascot for its offering both in terms of the racing and the customer experience.

“We’re a happy ITV Racing team as when you get weather like we had last week, you don’t get as many people staying in watching the television,” he said. “With that in mind the audience share was staggering and that’s all credit to the hard work everyone puts in during the week.

“Ascot is a special meeting and people watching love the stories, and when you share the love around like they did last week – when one minute you’ve got Aidan O’Brien winning a two-year-old race and the next Jim Goldie or Joe Murphy is landing a Group 1 – that’s compelling.”

Read more here

Field Of Gold camp eye Group 1 options after 'complete' Ascot performance earns blockbuster rating 

Royal Ascot TV audience falls but Friday and Saturday peak figures buck the trend 

Royal Ascot is booming - but at what cost to the Derby? 

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