The Unsporting Side of Sport

Synopsis

Clare Balding watches all sections of society gather on Epsom Downs to watch the Derby, the biggest day of the flat racing year. In her exploration of the way Britain has shaped sport and sport has shaped the British, Clare looks at the socially unifying power of the race course and the way sport and gambling have become inextricably linked. As Professor Richard Holt from the International Centre for Sport History and Culture at De Montfort University explains, the British have always loved a flutter. Gambling is in the DNA of sport. Having a bet not only gives an incentive to the thrill of sporting competitions but also pushed early sports to have clear and enforceable rules. The extravagant losses of the eighteenth century aristocracy caused a moral backlash in the Victorian era that led to a crackdown in betting legislation.
Producer: Sara Conkey.