Ed Chamberlin pays tribute to Enable following retirement of star mare

When taking over the terrestrial television contract in 2017 we weren’t unduly worried about jumps racing but boosting numbers on the flat was a concern.

We needed something special go get viewers hooked thought the spring, summer and autumn months and nothing does it quite like a horse who resonates beyond the sport.

We are so lucky to have had Enable with us throughout our journey to date.

It all began for us at Chester in May 2017 and if I’m honest, I didn’t think too much at the time of her victory in the Cheshire Oaks,

After all she’d been beaten by her stablemate Shutter Speed at Newbury beforehand and while she was clearly a nice horse, I had no inkling of the journey we were about to embark on, culminating in 1.2 million people tuning in to watch her attempt to win a third Arc earlier this month.

Her partnership with Frankie Dettori was fantastic, it has taken horse racing to places it probably has never been before. They were such a potent combination. Jason Weaver always talks of Frankie having the best hands in the sport, they’re like telephone wires, and he and this mare were a match made in heaven.

For me her greatest performances came as a three-year-old. She caused a storm in the Oaks and you forget she then went on to win the Irish Oaks, King George at Ascot and the Yorkshire Oaks before triumphing in Paris.

In every race she was brilliant, every victory was emphatic.

For me she never quite scaled the same heights again but that’s not to take away from her general brilliance and durability. She scrambled home in her second Arc in 2018, pulling in a big audience, and then last year there was that King George.

Brough Scott has always said every great sportsman and horse needs a worthy rival, someone to engage in memorable battles with and go head-to-head.

Enable had that in Crystal Ocean and of all the races during her remarkable career, it’s the epic King George duel with him that I’ll remember best.

I remain convinced that race just took the edge off her. The Enable we saw in the Arc, going down to Waldgeist, wasn’t the real Enable and this year has clearly been difficult for John Gosden, which he has relayed to the public so well.

We mustn’t forget all of the others involved in her journey behind the scenes including Imran Shawani, Tony Procter and the whole Clarehaven team, for whom Gosden is the perfect figurehead and spokesman.

Win, lose or draw he always says the right thing and is a wonderful diplomat who knows how to inform and interest a watching audience.

Enable hasn’t been the most straightforward to train or campaign over recent years but the team have done the job with tremendous skill. It’s been wonderful to watch on and admire their work.

Enable has been the perfect mix. A brilliant racehorse, ridden by the world's most famous jockey with a fantastic and engaging team behind her. I’m so grateful that ITV have had the best hook we could ever have asked for in the shape of this wonderful mare.

All that’s left is to say thank you.