Bahrain International Trophy shown live in 123 countries
Legend Frankie Dettori on Global Giant at the Bahrain International 2020
International horserace, The Bahrain International Trophy, enjoyed worldwide television exposure on Friday 20 November, with 123 countries broadcasting the action live.
The £500,000 contest attracted 14 runners from five countries, including five Group 1 winners headlined by 2019 Irish Derby hero Sovereign and Japanese super mare Deirdre. The race, which also saw a strong local contingent, kicked off at 1pm GMT, was won by Simsir, under jockey Lee Newman.
Racecourse Media Group (RMG), working with the Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club (REHC) in Bahrain, secured widespread global coverage of the event, headlined by Fox Sports in the US, ESPN in Latin America and the Caribbean, and SuperSport in Africa. RMG also worked with Bahrain TV in co-producing the live one hour world feed programme.
In addition to ESPN, the Caribbean was also served by SportsMax and viewers in South Africa were able to watch the race via Tellytrack. Altogether, 17 countries in the Middle East and North Africa had access to the race through the Dubai Racing Channel and Bahrain TV, while the Green Channel showed a recording of the one-hour programme to its Japanese audience.
Live coverage was taken by RMG’s TV channel, Racing TV, and Sky Sports Racing, in the UK and Ireland, while ITV, the UK’s biggest commercial broadcast, featured the race in its Saturday programming.
Other broadcasters that took live coverage in Europe included Sport Deutschland (Germany) and SilkNet (Georgia), while Equidia (France) and TV12 (Sweden) featured the best of the action.
Executive director at the REHC, Sheikh Salman bin Rashid Al Khalifa, commented: “The Bahrain International Trophy, in only its second year, has attracted some of the biggest broadcasters in the world, including the likes of Fox Sports, ESPN and SuperSport, who are taking the race-day for the first time. We are delighted with the international interest, generated by our media partners, Racecourse Media Group.”
Seb Vance, director of communications and international TV distribution at RMG, added: “We are honoured to be working with the Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club again and absolutely delighted with the international interest from broadcasters. The race looks like being a fantastic contest and racing in Bahrain is clearly resonating around the world.”