Rewind and Replay

The steeplechase track at Cartmel has the longest run-in of any jumps track in the country. No one will know that better than Henry Brooke - who jumped the last fence bare back on Monday, completing the final five furlongs of the race with the saddle hanging half way around Altruism's belly.

Having lost the lead (and almost his saddle) through a blunder at the second last obstacle, Altruism battled back manfully and failed by just 3/4 of a length to reel in his stable-mate, Fantasy King, at the finish. Fortunately Henry Brooke managed to cling on to all of his tack and managed to weigh-in successfully for second place.

There are some sights on a race-day, like the groom-to-be wearing a lime-green ‘mankini’, that you wish you’d never seen at all – while there are others, like Brooke's recovery, that you want to watch again and again.

Racing UK didn’t take their cameras across to the party tents in the Tented Village, so viewers at home remained blissfully unaware of the sartorial crimes that took place among the stag and hen parties on Saturday. Which is not to say that there weren't some very well dressed racegoers too - like the many ladies in hats and totally impractical heels.

Fortunately, Racing UK did capture all of the races from Cartmel on both days of the Barbecue Meeting - which means that subscribers can rewind and watch the races again and again (even the ones at Market Rasen, which they missed because they came racing at Cartmel).

The facility to rewind and replay, is one of the many benefits afforded by Racing UK Anywhere – a subscription package which allows the user to watch via a variety of platforms including Sky, Freeview, Desktop, iPad, iPhone, Android or Mobile Web. If you only ever want to watch Cartmel, you don’t even have to subscribe for a full year – day passes are available for £10.

There has been a debate in the racing press about TV coverage recently, predominately around the question of how much of each programme should be spent talking about betting and how long the presenters should develop the stories behind the personalities involved in the sport. The Racing UK presenters give added insight into the form of each race – so I’m confident that they’ll agree with my selection for the weekend, Her Majesty the Queen’s Dartmouth in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, at Ascot, on Saturday.

I like it when the presenters talk about the colourful side of the sport too - but you'll be able to watch Saturday's action on Racing UK safe in the knowledge that they won’t feature any images of racegoers wearing mankinis – even at Ascot.