interview | ed chamberlin
horses, and long may we lead the way.” He believes that amateur races like the
TEAMTALK
Foxhunters have “a big role to play” at The Festival. “Seeing Willie Mullins’ entourage arriving in these massive lorries, and then mum and dad driving their son or daughter in a tiny one-horse box to Cheltenham to run in the Foxhunters. That is what the Corinthian spirit is and what sport is all about. People will watch at home and think ‘That could be me’, which is very powerful. So that amateur spirit, I’d be loath to lose it, but again, common sense needs to be used.” He admits that he’s always thinking ahead and “as soon as the Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup 2019 finished, I was already thinking about next year. There are all sorts of different things I’d like to do, but I think the most important thing for us is to cover the stories well and get the story right. The scriptwriters at Cheltenham played a blinder in 2019, and I’m sure there’ll be a good scriptwriter for 2020.”
The ITV Racing team aren’t adverse to a bit of banter and Ed is happy to oblige when asked to dish the dirt. So come on Ed, who is… The vainest? “Chris Hughes has taken that to a different level. Yeah, he’s got the same colour skin as Matt Chapman. Yeah, they either spend a lot of time in the sun, or use other bits of help. Who’s the vainest? Chris Hughes would probably win that award, but he doesn’t half pull it off. He looks good on camera. He really does. The least vain would be Richard Hoiles. He couldn’t give a monkey’s, I love that about him.” The most opinionated? “Matt Chapman. My mother wouldn’t necessarily agree with everything he says, but she watches him. That’s a very important thing in television. Matt’s clever, he knows what he’s doing. He’s a very, very important part of what we do. He has an opinion and I encourage that because it would be very bland if we all agreed about everything.” “I’ve had car pooling with most of them. Johnny Murtagh is great fun to share a car with because he sings like mad. We’ve done Carpool Karaoke with Johnny. Chapman and [Oli] Bell are dreadful drivers. Jason Weaver never stops talking but makes you cry laughing. If you’re driving, you have to pull over sometimes. But I think I’d go for Sir Anthony McCoy. His driving is terrible, his singing voice is awful. The worry with Sir Anthony is he thinks he’s The Killers’ lead singer. He thinks he’s really good, and I keep telling him it’s awful, flat, monotone, and makes even the shortest journey seem long. So I think I’m afraid I’d least like to be in a car with Sir Anthony.” The sharpest wit? “Luke Harvey is very, very funny and great fun. He always makes me laugh, but Jason Weaver would be the sharpest. You can’t miss a trick with him, and he’s a menace as well. He’s like the Jamie Carragher of the dressing room. You can’t get away with anything with Weaver. He has made The one you’d least like to share a long car journey with? me cry laughing. Imagine when I’m talking down the camera and I’ve got Weaver to my right dissolving with laughter. It can be quite hard.” The most knowledgeable? “Richard Hoiles, by a distance. You have no idea how unselfish and what a team player he is. I chat to him umpteen times during the week. Then before every meeting, we’ll have breakfast. If he sometimes misses that because he’s gone on The Opening Show, or he’s got a family commitment, I am bereft and lost without running through every single race with him, little stories about horses, nuggets, stats, facts. He will help me with anything. He is an absolute gem, and I think it’s fair to say I couldn’t survive without him.”
12 Kalendar
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