There are many people who are devoted to horse racing, regardless of whether you’re talking about the flat racing variety or the version of the sport that takes place over jumps.

People spend huge amounts of their hard-earned cash travelling to places such as Aintree, Cheltenham and Goodwood in order to see magnificent beasts taking on the toughest courses.

Perhaps you consider yourself part of that group, or maybe you’re one of the people that rejects horse racing on moral grounds. Regardless, you can almost certainly learn something by watching a well-made documentary on the issue.

Here is a list of some of the best, bearing in mind that it is far from exhaustive:

Horsepower

As you might imagine, the top trainers in the world are somewhat secretive about their methods. You don’t often get the chance to see what they do, nor to get a behind-the-scenes tour of the facilities in which they work. That is what makes Horsepower a unique offering, given that we tour the Kingsclere stables of trainer Andrew Balding.

There are so many stories contained within this four-part documentary series, which also follows Oisin Murphy, the flat jockey, seeing what the two characters are up to in the autumn of 2020 through to the Royal Ascot meeting the following year.

There is no shortage of access given over to this fly-on-the-wall style series, providing incredible insights into the lives of the pair of them. Care for the horses, passion around the industry and an ambition to succeed are the threads that underpin the entire enterprise.

Not that the filming shies away from the more gritty side of horse racing; we see the fallout from Oisin testing positive for cocaine, for example. The series captures perfectly the sense of alchemy that is involved in horse racing, finding the balance between the will to win and the reality of losing that is so key.

On the Muscle: Portrait of a Thoroughbred Racing Stable

There are some that consider On the Muscle: Portrait of a Thoroughbred Racing Stable to be the definitive documentary about the world of horse racing. Produced by Pony Highway Productions, the series spends a year inside the racing stables of a thoroughbred yard, learning virtually everything that there is to know about the sport in general.

We spend time with six horses, Pleasantly Perfect, the Tin Man, Redattore, Kudos, Ile de France and Brisquette, discovering what they go through in order to get ready for races, recovering afterwards and everything in between.

If you want to watch something that goes in-depth into racing, then you’re going to be hard-pushed to find one better than this. Richard Mandella welcomes us into his stables during a year of genuine ups and downs, showing the world how decisions are made around certain horses.

Each horse in Mandella’s care is shown to be treated individually, such as the scene in which Mandella goes into the stall containing Pleasantly Perfect, where the horse is lying down, seeing Mandella lie down with him and ask him to please just win a race. Not long after, he did.

Sydney Betting Ring – 1997 – The Gamblers

Whether we like it or not, betting is a huge part of horse racing and always has been. With that in mind, you could do a lot worse than spend some time watching Sydney Betting Ring – 1997 – The Gamblers.

As you can well imagine, this is all about the people who head along to the racecourse in order to have a flutter, with many of the things learnt by the documentary crew in 1997 being just as relevant to horse racing today. The entire series looks at different aspects of gambling in Australia, with one episode looking at a casino, for example, and another the sport of harness racing.

The film was made at a time when gambling in Australia was in the midst of undergoing a change from being a quaint pastime that only a few engaged in to becoming a national obsession. Although the focus is on Australia, it is fair to say that many of the lessons learnt can be transposed to the United Kingdom, the United States of America and elsewhere.

This is less about the horse racing itself than it is about the people who spend their time betting on it, but given the manner in which the two things are intertwined, it is very much worthy of spending some time watching.

Seven Days Out: Kentucky Derby

If you want to see a documentary series that invests proper time into exploring its subject, the Seven Days Out films may not be exactly what you’re looking for. That being said, each of the events covered, from the Westminster Dog Show to the launching of NASA’s Cassini Mission, begins seven days before the main event is due to take place and therefore offers a genuine sense of drama and intrigue.

The horse racing episode focusses on the Kentucky Derby, which is billed as the ‘most exciting two minutes in sport’. If that’s the case, imagine how good seven days must be.

Getting Churchill Downs ready to host the race each year is far from easy, with the docuseries exploring everything from what goes into preparing the course for the biggest race of every 12 months through to what the horses, trainers and jockeys go through.

Those that know the race will recognise some of the faces interviewed to discuss all manner of matters arising, such as trainers Keith Desormeaux and Dale Romans. For everyone else, it is a genuinely fascinating look at numerous different aspects of an event that is watched by millions around the world.

Racetrack

When it comes to the final film on our list, it’s fair to say that it’s a little bit different from all the rest. Made by Freddie Wiseman in his inimitable style, the film spends time investigating life at a racetrack in a way that some modern viewers might find tough to watch.

That is because it mostly eschews the need for a voiceover talking us through every aspect of what we’re seeing, instead opting to follow the jockeys, trainers and owners that make the industry such an intriguing one. The majority of the documentary is based around a few meetings at Long Island’s Belmont Park in 1981.

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RACETRACK: A great, though little-known documentary film

Some readers may have already had the pleasure of watching this nearly two-hour long documentary, but I expect that most have not. It was created by the influential filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, who directed his… pic.twitter.com/OLe5bP7cdY

— Tinky (@Tinky47flat) September 9, 2024

It looks at the training that goes into getting a horse ready for a race, as well as the maintenance of such thoroughbred horses. The joy of picking Belmont Park as the focus of the documentary is that you really don’t have to look very far before a brilliant story presents itself. Wiseman does brilliantly to weave them all together into a compelling narrative, up to and including the very birth of a horse.

The lack of music and the decision not to have a narrator means that this film will feel alien to modern viewers, but it also puts the horse racing front and centre, which is why it’s so interesting to watch.

Champions: Full Gallop

If you have found yourself gripped by the stories involved in the likes of Formula 1: Drive to Survive and Full Swing but would like to see a similar thing around horse racing, Champions: Full Gallop is almost certainly what you’re after. It immerses the viewer in the thrilling world of racing, promising unmatched access to some of the biggest names in the sport.

The top athletes go through exhilarating highs and incredible lows over the courses of the season, which is caught on camera for us all to experience alongside them. This is not something that glosses over the industry’s issues, either.

From mid-race drama to raw emotion via the running of the Grand National and jockeys having a laugh in the weighing room, you’re getting the full gamut of experiences here. The tagline ‘Racing like you’ve never seen it before’ gives you a good insight into what to expect, even if one of the participants, Nico de Boinville, wanted it to be ‘This is going to make Drive to Survive look like The Muppet Show’.

There are two seasons of the show to watch, with a third sadly denied to the viewer due to funding reasons. Still, there are plenty of insights, both good and bad, that are worth watching.