When the horses are this good, why bother counting the crowd?

In full flight: Mecca's Angel sticks her neck out in last year's Nunthorpe StakesCredit: Mark Cranham/ (Cranhamphoto.com)

Purists beware. Quality is no guarantee of popularity, whether it be on the cinema screen, the television or the racecourse.

A survey earlier this year found that Britain's most watched movies were Grease, Back To The Future and Dirty Dancing, with classics such as Casablanca and Singin' In The Rain just sneaking into the top 50.

Racing's new television partners at ITV know full well that they will keep their advertisers happier showing Britain's Got Talent and The X Factor to the millions, rather than trusting a compelling Ingmar Bergman documentary to draw in the viewers.

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David CarrReporter

Published on 18 August 2016inPreviews

Last updated 16:17, 18 August 2016

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