'Racing has a lot of growth potential, whereas a lot of other sports have peaked. That's unusual for such a big sport and it's exciting'

It is impossible not to take heart when an outsider lifts racing's veil of secrecy and is genuinely enthusiastic about what he finds beneath it. 

Award-winning TV producer Matt Warren has been creating sporting content for Sky, ITV, the BBC and TNT Sports for more than two decades, often working at the biggest sporting events on the planet including the World Cup and Olympics.

But setting the agenda for the Racing Post's new YouTube series Racing Unfiltered, which premiered on Saturday, was a step into the unknown, and the fact he is already dreaming up ideas for a second season speaks positively about his maiden voyage to racing's coalface. 

"I love the live environment and working on a big tournament is really exciting," he says, "but equally, I like having time to craft something and that is what's been really good about this particular project."

The micro-documentary series has been a labour of love for Warren, who has frequently swapped south London for Lambourn over the last four months to get a taste of what life in the Valley of the Racehorse is really like.

• Watch episode one of Racing Unfiltered

"The premise I sold [to the Racing Post] at the start was to appeal to racing and non-racing fans," he says. "It's a very competitive sporting market in the UK now and racing, like any other sport, has got to move with the times. Coming from the outside and having fresh ideas was appealing to them and that's when we made the pilot."

Last summer's pilot clearly went down well and, sitting in a cafe close to his home in Brixton, Warren has already put the finishing touches to five of the nine episodes that make up the series, with the first of the weekly instalments to air at 6pm on Saturday on the Racing Post's YouTube channel.

"From the world I come from you need to grab the viewers' attention and offer them variety," he says. "For a non-racing person like myself, a farrier or travelling head person wouldn't even be on your radar, so what I wanted to do was open the curtains on somebody doing one of these jobs that a lot of the British sporting public wouldn't have the first clue about. 

"It was almost like 'a day in the life', that was the remit, and to get the racing world to hold their hands up and say, 'We are here, this is what we do, we contribute billions to the UK economy and we're a huge sport.' That's what I wanted to shine a spotlight on and I hope it can reach far and wide."

Episode one centres on the life of a farrier, with the subsequent eight programmes focusing on the Lambourn gallops, stable staff, vets, travelling staff, transport logistics, jump racing and the changing face of Lambourn.  

Producer Matt Warren's credits include content for Sky, ITV, the BBC and TNT Sports, but racing was a new frontier

As well as hoping to shed some light on the mystery of what goes on behind the scenes, Warren has been on a steep learning curve himself and has been amazed at how many moving parts are involved in getting a racehorse to the start line in peak condition.

"What's been enjoyable for me is learning about a new sport and a new industry," he says. "This has all been based in and around Lambourn and it's been enjoyable to study a little village that is the Valley of the Racehorse and meeting all the different characters that are in that village. 

"Racing Unfiltered is about drawing back the curtain on an industry that a lot of the British public wouldn't have a clue about unless you were a real racing aficionado. We're opening it up and saying, 'All these different people do all these different roles that are varied and interesting within horseracing.'"

The speed at which work mornings tick along in Lambourn came as a particular shock to the producer and was not without its issues for him and his director of photography Laurence Mills, who had to dance to the industry's tune. 

"At times I've not been able to sleep with my brain going round and round, and we've had to be very agile on this project," says Warren. "One thing I learned is that it's a really fast-paced industry that never stops. Six to seven days a week, from early morning until late at night, everyone who works within it never ever stops and you've got to get with the pace of it.

Lance Setter hard at work. The farrier is the star of episode one of Racing Unfiltered

"Ordinarily on a shoot, you'd plan things out and nine times out of ten it would go the way you pre-produce something, but with this very often it didn't. It was a real challenge, more so for Laurence, who is lugging around a huge camera with loads of kit and we're suddenly being told by Richard Hughes to jump in the back of the car as we're going up to the gallops, when we've just set up for a stand-up interview outside a barn. At times it was frustrating and stressful but you've just got to go with it."

Racing is an institution in Lambourn, with the majority who live there intrinsically linked to the sport, and Warren was struck by how the horse is first in the pecking order as far as the village's residents are concerned. 

"All these different people, in all these different roles, all do it for the love of horses," he says. "Compared to a lot of other sports, they work so, so hard, and they're all committed to it, and what they've all got is so many stories to tell."

One of the most poignant stories comes in episode three, featuring veteran stable lad and former jockey Bill Nicholson, who is approaching the end of a career spanning more than 50 years in racing. 

"He was unbelievable to talk to and showed us his apprentice papers from 1970, when he was paid 20 shillings a week," says Warren. "He told us about what life was like back then and he's still riding out to this day. He's going to retire later this year and, at the end of the interview, he broke down in tears when he realised that this incredible career in racing was coming to an end. That's how the episode ends."

Early mornings were a central part of the filming process

The producer hopes that letting viewers share such moments will help racing make new connections and he sees plenty of untapped potential for a sport that has not always been the best at showcasing its huge workforce.

"The series has touched on a lot of different subjects I'd say and to try and do this in another sport would be a real challenge," says the 53-year-old. "I'm just not sure there's the same variety of roles in other sports and I don't think you'd get the access either. I found people in the industry very open and willing to talk.

"The racing industry has a lot of growth potential, whereas a lot of other sports have peaked. That untapped potential is unusual for such a big sport and that's exciting. Pretty much every story has been told with other mainstream sports, and I think horseracing doesn't do a good enough job in selling its own stories. Speaking to all these people, the joy and the love they have towards the animals is just unbelievable."

If Racing Unfiltered can help spread the word, Warren will be a happy man. The time to show the rest of the world that racing is not just about what goes on at the track is here.

Racing Post+ Ultimate subscribers can read more great interviews here:

He was one of racing's most powerful leaders. Now he's free to explain how the sport really works 

Inside the world of Gavin Cromwell - where calm meets chaos and diggers bring as much joy as Gold Cup winners 

'I've been here 47 years and I wouldn't live anywhere else - and I've come full circle now I'm back with Nicky Henderson' 

'We moved house about six times, bailiffs forever at the door - and I still live in fear now, knowing how hard life can be'

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