‘Full Gallop’ Docuseries Returns to ITV Screens on Fridays

by Roy Brindley, 10 October 2025

ITV’s ‘Champions: Full Gallop’ docuseries returns to the UK’s TV screens in mid-October.

The stars of ‘Champions: Full Gallop’ series two appeared at the show’s London premiere last week. © PA Media

Key Facts:

• Horseracing docuseries returns to ITV screens for a second year.
• All-access drama from racing’s most iconic moments is promised by the show’s makers.
• A third series of ‘Champions: Full Gallop’ is in doubt with its sponsor pulling out.

Season two of Champions: Full Gallop—National Hunt racing’s answer to Netflix’s highly successful Formula 1: Drive To Survive—will return to ITV1 and be simulcast on ITVX screens at 10.45 pm on Friday, October 17.

The first series, covering the highs and lows of the 2023/24 jumps season, enjoyed a primetime 9 pm slot on ITV1 when it averaged 930,000 viewers per episode. It reportedly reached 4.3 million people.

Great British Racing (GBR), the marketing and promotional body of British horseracing, says the new six-part docuseries “raises the stakes with bigger wins, higher risks, and all-access drama from racing’s most iconic moments.”

The Biggest Names Behind the Scenes

“Following every twist and turn of the action, the programme showcases behind the scenes of the biggest events in the racing year, such as the iconic Cheltenham Festival and the famous Randox Grand National,” GBR declared following a red-carpet premiere event in London.

It promises the new series will capture the professional challenges and the personal stories of the jockeys and trainers competing at the top level of the National Hunt racing. Returning figures from series one include Harry Cobden, Sean Bowen, brothers Harry and Dan Skelton, and all-time great trainer Paul Nicholls.

New faces, including the then 17-year-old Freddie Gingell, grandson of Gold Cup-winning trainer Colin Tizzard, will join them. The teenager enters the spotlight in the first 46-minute episode when introduced as Nicholls’ retained conditional/No. 2 jockey.

"The more you win, the more you want to win" 🏆

Champions: Full Gallop is back with Season 2 on Friday 17th October, watch it on @ITVX 📺#ChampionsFullGallop pic.twitter.com/BOoXdfBALQ

— Great British Racing (@GBRacing) October 8, 2025

The Full Champion Comeback Is On

ITV, which has given the show a “Racing, like you’ve never seen it before” strapline, has released details of ‘Champions: Full Gallop’ early episodes.

The first, titled ‘New Kid on the Block’, comes from Cheltenham’s November Meeting, where the sport’s top riders begin their pursuit of the £500,000 David Power Jockeys’ Cup.

In the second episode, ‘The Comeback’, cameras follow Boxing Day action at Kempton Park, focusing on the much-anticipated showdown between Constitution Hill and Lossiemouth in the Christmas Hurdle. Plus, of course, the dramatic King George VI Chase.

The Racing Post reported the episode shown at the ‘Champions: Full Gallop’ premiere in BATFA, Piccadilly, London, “focused on the Grand National and the extraordinary success of Willie Mullins-trained horses that tore open the trainer’s championship after Dan Skelton had seemed home for all money.”

Will Gallop Grind to a Halt?

‘Champions: Full Gallop’ will complement ITV’s coverage of British horseracing. In a contract extension, the broadcaster recently agreed to show 117 days of free-to-air coverage of UK horse racing annually until the end of 2030.

However, the long-term future of ‘Champions: Full Gallop’ is uncertain. Flutter Entertainment, parent company of UK sports betting sites Betfair and Paddy Power, recently announced it could no longer commit £1 million of its sponsorship budget towards the show’s production costs.