Coral launches ‘Big Evs’ documentary on his bid for Breeders’ Cup glory

Coral has released a new three-part documentary series called “Big Evs” which follows the journey of racehorse, Big Evs, and his dedicated team and loving owners from Leicestershire to Los Angeles in their bid for Breeders’ Cup glory.

The series, produced by Equine Productions, follows the fortunes of trainer Mick Appleby as he targets the Group 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Santa Anita Park in California with the small but talented two-year-old, Big Evs, in pursuit of his first ever success outside of the UK, and the first Group 1 success of his career.

The story is made all the more poignant as Big Evs was named, by his owners Paula and Rachel Teasdale, after their close friend of 40 years, Paul Evans, who died just 12 months ago.

Mick Appleby’s Travelling Head Lass, Tara Belfield, stars in the documentary as she oversees the last few days of Big Evs’ preparation under the heat of the Californian sun, as they build up to the biggest race of all their lives.

“Big Evs” can be watched on Coral Racing Club’s YouTube channel and represents Coral’s second foray into producing fly-on-the-wall horse racing documentaries, having in May released “Taking The Reins”, a six-part documentary that followed Joe Tizzard’s first season as a racehorse trainer.

Simon Clare, Coral PR director, and exec producer of “Big Evs”, said: “We are indebted to Mick Appleby, and to Big Evs’ owners Paul and Rachel, for agreeing to take part in this documentary despite the huge pressure on the team as they built up to the race, and we are so grateful for Tara Belfield’s enthusiasm and iPhone filming skills, as her role was crucial to the success of the project.

“The Breeders’ Cup is one of the most competitive international race meetings in the world and Santa Anita such a stunning setting, that we knew it would make compelling viewing if we could find a racehorse and connections that we could film and follow in their bid to win at the meeting, and to end up with a Hollywood ending in California was a dream come true.

“Coral is a long-standing supporter of horse racing and we want to get our customers closer to the action through insightful and entertaining content, and we are incredibly proud to have created “Big Evs” with our talented partners, Equine Productions.”

PART ONE – IN THE STORM

How do you know that you have a racehorse capable of travelling to California to race in one of the fastest, and most competitive and prestigious races in the world?

Find out from racehorse trainer Mick Appleby why he believes two-year-old racehorse Big Evs is worth his place in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint and get an insight into the preparation that travelling head lass, Tara Belfield, is undertaking to ensure he goes there in the best possible shape.

PART TWO – CALIFORNIA DREAMING

As the days count down to The Breeders’ Cup race meeting, what goes into preparing a top-class racehorse for his big race assignment in the heat of the Californian sun?

With just four days to go until the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, follow the meticulous preparation of Big Evs for the race at his temporary home at Santa Anita Park, as he comes through quarantine, has a spin on the firm turf course under big-race jockey Tom Marquand, and gets some experience of the American starting stalls.

PART THREE – BREAK SPEED

Will Big Evs be able to compete with the speed and talent of the American racehorses as he bids for Grade 1 glory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Santa Anita Park, the biggest race of his life?

Follow Appleby and his team on race day as they ready Big Evs for his big race assignment, hoping to land the stable’s first ever Group 1 victory.

The tension mounts as Big Evs is loaded into the stalls, and then the starting gates crash open, and the horses explode from the stalls.