Broadcast Sport spoke to Ye Ha Productions’ Denise Large about broadcasting the horse racing meet
The Saudi Cup was shown by 35 media outlets in over 200 territories this year, as Forever Young retained his crown at the King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh.
HBA Media managed all broadcast elements of the event, with Ye Ha Productions brought in to handle the host broadcast and on-course programming. Ye Ha co-founder Denise Large, who won a Bafta for her work on Channel 4 Racing, led the production and told Broadcast Sport, “It was the smoothest Saudi Cup broadcast has ever been.”
An international crew were onsite, with over 50 cameras capturing the footage. These included two WireCams - one on the inside of the track forming the longest wire span ever deployed - an ultra-motion camera on the finish line, multiple radio high-motion systems and the immersive jockey-cam. NEP’s MENA office provided the tech.
The jockey cams were roughly the size of an iPhone, and Large could cut to them live in the broadcast. She added, “The bespoke elements like the world’s longest WireCam make the event special.” There was also a camera trained on eventual winner Forever Young throughout, given the interest in the horse in Japan, where he was trained.
This was used to produce a 90-minute programme designed for the global audience and mainstream networks, presented by Nick Luck, Michelle Yu, Tom Stanley, Oli Bell and Laffit Pincay III, with Frankie Foster and Ella McNeill also making their Saudi Cup debuts. The format showcased the G2 Red Sea Turf Handicap before building towards the headline G1 $20 million (£14.83m) Saudi Cup.
Large explained, “It’s very difficult to do horse racing remotely. There are so many horses and ever-changing news, so you need to be able to speak to people in person to explain what you need,” and, “It’s not like a sport contained in an arena, like football or tennis,” with a large area to cover that doesn’t always include pre-installed broadcasting spaces. On this occasion, working closely with the Saudi royal guard was mentioned as one area where onsite communication was vital.
The event is held in high regard by HBA and Ye Ha. “The Saudi Cup is up there with the big horse racing events, like the Kentucky Derby or Grand National,” Large commented, and the broadcast, “was no different to major international races like Ascot.”
Looking to the future, Large believes, “Sport has reached a peak of exciting technological capability, and we continue to explore the newest developments,” but this doesn’t mean that automated cameras will be playing a key part in the production any time soon. She believes, “Automated cameras aren’t an option at this level. The examples I’ve seen look terrible, and our production needs to match or exceed the quality of a standard crew.”
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