Ben is a 20-year-old undergraduate student of Global Communication and Media based at the University of Portsmouth. He has been waiting for Racing Media Academy applications to open ever since he heard about the course whilst working on a small filming project at Kingsclere, Park House Stables (the breathtaking training facilities licensed by Andrew Balding), in April last year. It was Grand National won by Many Clouds and jockey Leighton Aspell that gravitated him towards the sport. Knowing nothing at the time about the racehorse, Aintree Racecourse or the prominence of the late Trevor Hemmings’ success stories, something about the National just fascinated him.
Now, from getting trackside on the courses, watching race build-up and analysis, or listening to the trainers explaining horses’ work on the gallops, each part of this sport has continued to intrigue and fire him up with opinions/ideas.
He is extremely excited about being in the Racing Media Academy cohort of 2025. He sees this as the perfect opportunity to learn practical and essential media skills which, which he hopes, will prepare him for a lengthy career in the racing media landscape. He is also excited about meeting like-minded people equally enthusiastic about racing, media or both, which will allow him to make great connections too!
My five-week placement with ITV Sport has been far greater than I could have ever imagined. It has been inspiring to see such vast teams all passionate about high-quality programme output, and I have been lucky enough to see the cogs of the organisation churning right across the range of sports that ITV covers.
My first couple of weeks with the team involved plenty of shadowing to get an idea of how we would shape the rest of my placement. From ITV’s coverage of Coral-Eclipse Day at Sandown to a gallery in Ealing Broadcasting Centre for the production of UEFA Women’s EURO matches, I was completely immersed in ITV’s portfolio of live sport, not just horse racing (which I strongly believe will be valuable for the future).
It therefore felt like a smooth transition when Paul Cooper (Coops), Sport Programme Editor and my line manager whilst on placement, said I would effectively be working as a junior producer for the rest of my time there. I then became involved with a Sussex Stakes runners and riders feature in our Goodwood Festival coverage on ITV1, production of the Australian Darts Masters playout on ITV4 and multiple EVS (live replay) outputs right across ITV’s summer racing programme.
Having started my placement with a set of racing blinkers on, I would never have thought that such an eclectic sample of sport would be so appealing to me, and yet it was! Though I cannot put into words how surreal it has been to observe some of the most well-known faces of horse racing go about their work in person, rather than on screen (making live television look ‘easy’ is an understatement and testament to a sterling production team).
I write this just four days after my placement concluded at Ascot Racecourse, and I can honestly say I miss the people and the crazy and incredibly rewarding world of live TV already. However, I look forward to everything upcoming, knowing that I have spent this summer gaining the greatest possible industry exposure. There are far too many people to thank for that, but I know this would not have been possible without my prior training with the Racing Media Academy at The British Racing School in Newmarket.
I am forever grateful to everyone behind the RMA and everyone at ITV Sport for providing me with opportunities that I will never forget.
