Why is racing congratulating itself over the National? The truth is we've put the sport on a slippery slope

Racing takes more than its share of stick so maybe it is to be expected that a propensity for overzealous self-congratulation is evident when the opportunity presents itself. 

It's a condition that has become increasingly rampant on ITV's watch. Whereas the bygone terrestrial coverage on BBC and Channel 4 was defined by the discerning analysis of a Julian Wilson, Sir Peter O'Sullevan, Jim McGrath or Tanya Stevenson, Ed Chamberlin sets a more effusive tone.

These days we are bombarded with how wonderful and amazing everything is, which it may well be, but the urge to keep telling viewers as much smacks of insecurity. Pictures of horses in peak condition or a sumptuous racecourse really ought to speak for themselves. Maybe it is the sort of output that racing requires on terrestrial TV nowadays, but ITV lays it on pretty thick.