ITV host – and new Mail Sport columnist – Ed Chamberlin opens up on his love for the turf

Even now, seven years later, Ed Chamberlin knows the question that will come his way when he is stopped during a trip to a supermarket.

Chamberlin, the face of ITV Racing, left Sky in 2016 to pursue a lifelong ambition. Racing isn’t so much a job for the 49-year-old as it is a way of life. His love for the Turf goes back to his childhood, watching the Grand National in his grandfather’s living room.

That little boy would hardly have believed what his career would look like if he had a paddock seat for every major race in the world. But he took his place in this position after deciding to move away from the global phenomenon that is the Premier League.

“Really, I can’t walk down a high street or a supermarket without someone saying, ‘Why on earth did you leave Premier League football to race?’ It’s everywhere I go!’ says Chamberlin with a smile.

“My son, Sam, is still not sure. He burst into tears when I told him I was leaving football! I remember sitting down to explain. It was pretty cool for him to say at school that his dad was the Premier League presenter. So I tell him I’m going to race and he looks back and says, ‘What have you done!’ It doesn’t make sense to many people, but it does to anyone who knows me.

Chamberlin (left), the face of ITV Racing, left Sky in 2016 to fulfill a lifelong ambition

Racing isn’t so much a job for the 49-year-old as it is a way of life. His love for the Turf dates back to his childhood watching the Grand National in his grandfather’s living room.

“I love football, but 2016 was the right time to make the change. I’m sure many people were delighted… Southampton’s Portuguese defender Jose Fonte called me ‘The Curse’ because there were three seasons where I presented games and the Saints never won. But racing was something I always wanted to do.”

Chamberlin, who joins Mail Sport to provide regular columns, is brimming with passion for racing and speaks with authority on all issues, from the brilliance of a front-running Frankie Dettori ride to the complexities of the wrangling that has broken out between authorities and jockeys over the use of saunas.

“In racing we can really shoot ourselves in the foot,” he says firmly. “The focus on the whip, saunas, affordability checks. But we have to be careful about the way people outside the sport look inward. We need to be aware and at the forefront of promoting the things we do best.

And there are so many things we’re good at. York has been a shining example of the brilliant festivals we have this week, with the quality of the races and the way they are attended.”

Like there are Chamberlin fronts on the show. He’s used to being hung, pulled and quartered on social media, but he’ll never change his style or his ambition to open up racing to new, questioning viewers, who are well aware of what other sports would do to getting the race TV on the air.

‘It’s a bit like being a real estate developer,’ he emphasises. ‘You don’t develop real estate that suits you, you develop it to appeal to as many people as possible. That’s what we do with ITV Racing. This is not football, with 100 minutes of action and short breaks to analyze.

That little boy would hardly have believed what his career would look like if he had a seat on the side of the paddock for every major race in the world.

Chamberlin (left) took his place in this position after deciding to move away from the global phenomenon that is the Premier League

“We can have a four-hour show and the live action can be up to fifteen minutes. It would be very easy for me to create a program that appeals to race diehards, but we have a million viewers. We have to appeal to everyone and produce something for everyone.’

While questions will continue to haunt Chamberlin as to whether he did the right thing in turning his back on football, he has never regretted a moment. A skirmish with stomach cancer 14 years ago taught him why every opportunity should be seized and embraced.

“I was very sick,” he says. ‘I came back to work with a completely different attitude. It was more about making the most of every opportunity. On the big days, I still look back and think, ‘Oh my God, how lucky am I?’

“It made me braver and helped me appreciate things. I would never have moved from Premier League football to racing if I hadn’t shaved so cleanly. Before then I was very shy. Now I realize how lucky I am.’

l Read Ed Chamberlin’s brilliant new column in the morning edition of Match Day