'It’d be a great shame if it doesn’t carry on' - Paul Nicholls laments potential loss of Champions: Full Gallop

Racing losing the exposure provided to the sport by the ITV docuseries Champions: Full Gallop would be “a great shame” according to multiple champion trainer Paul Nicholls, after Flutter Entertainment said it would end its financial support for the project.

The bookmaking giant has pulled its £1 million funding for the ITV series due to “uncertainty” over a Treasury proposal to potentially harmonise online betting duties in the autumn budget, a spokesperson told the Racing Post on Monday, plunging the prospect of a third series into doubt.

Flutter, the parent company of brands such as Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet, had provided financial backing to Champions: Full Gallop alongside Racecourse Media Group, while additional funding for the second series, which is due to be aired next month, came from the Levy Board as part of racing’s broader marketing campaign.

Paul and Megan Nicholls on the red carpet at the premiere of Champions Full GallopCredit: Joe Maher (Getty Images)

The first series, which covered the 2023-24 jumps season between the King George VI Chase won by Hewick and the final day of the season at Sandown, was broadcast in a primetime slot on ITV1 and averaged 930,000 viewers an episode, while the series had a reach of 4.3 million people.

Nicholls was one of the main figures in series one alongside his stable jockey Harry Cobden, and is also set to feature prominently in series two.

He said: “It’d be a great shame if it doesn’t carry on as I think it’s been a good thing for the sport. For me, anything that’s there to promote racing is a good thing so it’d be disappointing not to have it.

“I know lots of people have enjoyed it and it’s given them a chance to get to know more about the characters in the game beyond what you see week in, week out. Lots of people from outside the game wouldn’t know too much about what goes on and this has given them much more insight.

“I think the second series is going to be an improvement on the first one and it’s going to start next month, which means it’s going on for people to watch at ‘our’ time of year too. I’ve really enjoyed being a part of both series and I’d be sad to lose it for racing.”

Harry Skelton: successful in last season's David Power Jockeys Cup, but that competition is also under threatCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Series two will feature the inaugural edition of the David Power Jockeys Cup, a £1.5m competition funded by Flutter that provided a narrative to the jumps season. While no decision has yet been made on its future, a source told the Racing Post it is “very unlikely” to return in 2025-26.

Nicholls said: “It’s a huge amount of money and, like I said, anything that’s investing in the sport and trying to promote it has to be a good thing for me, so it’s a shame for the jockeys if it goes."

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