Channel 4 recalls top line up for two-day Investec Derby Festival

Clare Balding, Nick Luck and Sir Anthony McCoy form part the line-up of Channel 4’s Investec Derby Festival team which starts on Friday, 3rd June with the UK’s richest flat race show live at 4:30pm on the Saturday, June 4th.

Derby Day starts with an extended Morning Line from 8:30 – 10am presented by Nick Luck alongside Sir Anthony McCoy and last year’s Derby winning jockey, Frankie Dettori. The two horsemen recently rode the infamous undulating Derby course in a two-part special to be shown across the Festival weekend.   An abundance of racing guests will join the Morning Line sofa to provide the latest news and Derby preparations, both on and off the track.

Clare Balding returns to the Derby helm for afternoon coverage which starts at 1:30pm supported by Sir Anthony McCoy with Nick Luck, Jim McGrath and Graham Cunningham providing analysis from the track-side studio that is positioned within the winning post facade.  Commentator Simon Holt will call home all five feature races with Mick Fitzgerald, Rishi Persad and Emma Spencer responsible for reporting duties.  Betting news and statistics will be scrutinised by Tanya Stevenson with Brian Gleeson once again on hand to provide an informative Irish opinion.

The Investec Derby comes under starters orders at 4:30pm and for the first time ever Her Majesty The Queen will present the trophy to the winning connections, which also sees the course rename a contest in celebration of Her Sovereign Majesty’s 90th birthday.

Three hours: thirty minutes will also be dedicated to Friday’s racing coverage that takes in five contests with the principal race being the fillies classic aka The Investec Oaks - live at 4:30pm. First run in 1779, the year before the Derby, the Oaks is established as the most prestigious race for middle distance fillies. This year Ireland’s master trainer Aidan O’Brien is looking to win the classic for the sixth time – having won it with outsider Qualify last year.

A bespoke opener will introduce Channel 4’s Investec Derby Festival coverage having secured unique access to horseracing’s good and great reflecting on the importance of the world’s greatest flat race.

An array of features will complement the coverage including another Gogglebox special with Willie Carson, Marcus Tregonning, Ed Dunlop and Michael Bell deliberating on their Derby clips. Short vignettes will be scattered across the two days alongside a Humphrey Bogart feature that sees Emma Spencer visit the Hannon yard for a greater understanding of the three-year-old thoroughbred’s chances Derby weekend to an archived creative, voice by Nick Luck, reflecting on ‘Her Majesty, The Queen and The Derby.’

Channel 4 Racing is sponsored by Dubai.