ITV Racing music

UPDATE April 11th 2024… At Around 4:30, they read out the runners and riders for this years’ Grand National, with a piece of orchestral music in the back. It’s the theme from the 1988 Olympics, composed by John Williams. BBC used it for quite a few years. Now, back to the original post.

Do you watch the racing on ITV? Do you like the double-bassy, mute-trumpety music they use when introducing the runners and riders for each race? Do you wish you could own a copy of this music, or at least stream it on somewhere like Spotify? Well, now you can!

It’s title is… Drum Roll Please…. “Les Fleurs” by 4 Hero, released on their 2001 album “Creating Patterns”.

I’ve been after it for ages, so I thought someone else might have been too, hence the blog post. Turns out I’ve had the exact track on a compilation CD for ages and never realised. Minnie Riperton originally performed the song in 1970.

Also, the flutey music they use when going into a break (not part of the main theme, which is also pretty flutey) is the instrumental version of “Go Do” by Jonsi.

The actual theme was composed especially for the program, and to my knowledge, has never been commercially released.

We will return you to your scheduled programming shortly. *cough*.

UPDATE: Well, that didn’t take long, thanks to the reliability of Discogs, I’ve got the single in my collection now, which contains the instrumental version.

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MercuryVapour

I'm a man of few words. Any questions?

11 thoughts on “ITV Racing music”

  1. Interesting, I must send you some of the photos I took of the ‘classic steamers’ from the record fair!!!!

  2. Every time I watched the racing, that tune ( Les Fluers ) would be in my head for hours! I had no idea what it was until wonderful you enlightened me. It’s now on my playlist. Thank you!

  3. Hello,

    Can you confirm that you have a copy of the intro music? Been trying to download this version for ages with no luck! Thanks in advance

  4. Can anyone please tell me what background music songs are played on ITV Racing show on a Saturday other then Iron Sky by Paolo Nutini,Dirty Paws by Of Monsters and Men,Palladio by Escala,Watch Me Rise by Mikky Ekko,they also play Les Fleurs by 4 Hero like you have said.I think i have named most of them but there are many more.

  5. Many thanks for naming more of these! I had been after “Watch Me Rise” for ages – it sounded totally different as an instrumental and I’ve only just noticed it was the same music that was used as the Sky Sports football theme.

    I’m going to go through and see if I can name more of them.

  6. Sat 2nd nov itv racing featured a spot called 5 to watch, with a background song. can anyone tell me what the song was !!

  7. The slow brass section they play when looking through the on-screen card is “Iron sky” by Paulo Nutini. The best piece of music was channel4 racing, “Everloving” by Moby was used when horses were parading for group1 turf & grade 1 NH races. Really got the spine tingling & the belly fluttering as they went to post.

  8. I know this is a little after the fact, but which version of the single contains the instrumental of Go Do? I’ve been trying to find it for years to no avail.

    Many thanks.

  9. I would like to know the name of the tune used by ITV Racing just recently on their Racing League coverage, this tune is played when they are reading out the racecard for a certain race thanks.

  10. Does anyone know the name of a tune used most recently by ITV Racing on their Sunday series meeting at Pontefract, this tune is playing whilst the racecard for a certain race is being read.

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