TG4 to air new legendary racing series

The series will commence on Friday, 27th December at 9.55pm with a special one-hour documentary on the tale of the legendary mare ‘Dawn Run’.

TG4 and Touchline Media are delighted to announce that a new National Hunt racing series ‘Laochra Na Rasaíochta’.

Featuring Ireland’s greatest horses from Arkle to Al Boum Photo, the series has been specially commissioned by TG4 and will commence on Friday, 27th December at 9.55pm with a special one-hour documentary on the tale of the legendary mare ‘Dawn Run’, the only horse in history to have completed the Cheltenham Champion Hurdle/Gold Cup double.

‘Laochra na Rasaíochta - Dawn Run’ is directed by Stephen Cullinane and Luke McManus and produced by Denis Kirwan and Dave Keena. Director of Photography was Peter Moffett.

The special Dawn Run documentary features contributions from all the major characters in this incredible tale of promise, achievement, disappointment, glory and ultimately tragedy. Contributors include the late Paddy Mullins, his wife Maureen, their sons Tony, Tom and Willie Mullins. Owner, the late Charmian Hill, and her son Jeremy Hill also feature while jockey Jonjo O’Neill gives his unique perspective on one of racing’s most extraordinary tales. The Dawn Run documentary also features the never-to-be-forgotten 1986 match between Dawn Run and Buck House at Punchestown, with trainer Mouse Morris and jockey Tommy Carmody providing us with their memories of that special day.

The ‘Laochra na Rasaíochta’ series begins with a look at the Arkle story and that will be aired on Thursday, 18th February. Episodes 2,3 and 4 of ‘Laochra na Rasaíochta’ - screened on three consecutive Thursdays from 25th February - will chronicle the achievements of Ireland’s other National Hunt heroes over the past 50 years with footage of all the key moments and contributions from the principal connections of each of these great horses. Among the legendary horses featured over those episodes are L’escargot, Monksfield, Istabraq, Danoli, Doran’s Pride, Limestone Lad, Hurricane Fly and Tiger Roll.

The ‘Laochra na Rasaíochta’ series concludes with another look at the Dawn Run story, that will be aired during the 2021 Cheltenham Festival on the eve of the 35th anniversary of Dawn Run’s historic completion of the unprecedented Champion Hurdle/Gold Cup double.

“Apart from the incredible achievements of Arkle in the 60’s and the huge amount of Irish success in recent decades, there were also many lean years occasionally brightened by some heroic horses on the biggest stages. ‘Laochra na Rasaíochta’ brings many of these great stories to life. Touchline Media are delighted to have been specially commissioned by TG4 to produce this important documentary series, which was filmed and edited over the past few months despite the coronavirus pandemic restrictions. We are confident that racing fans will enjoy this fast-paced trip down memory lane and similar to the hugely popular “Laochra Gael” series from TG4, will be enjoyed by sports fans both young and old” said Denis Kirwan, Producer, Touchline Media.

Touchline Media has a successful track record in producing racing documentaries; ‘Arkle – The Legend Lives On’, was the winner of the 2015 IFTA Sports Programme of the Year and also winner of the same category at the 2015 Celtic Media Awards. The same team also produced the IFTA-nominated sports documentary ‘Jump Boys’ in 2012 and the critically acclaimed ‘Jump Girls’ in February 2019. Touchline Media have also produced a four-part series on the Galway Races ‘Seachtain na Rasaí’ and have produced Cheltenham and Punchestown Festival previews for well over the past decade.