Netflix Sports Doc Features Repole-Stewart Rivalry

Frankie Dettori's dramatic switch to riding in the United States and the rivalry of owners Mike Repole and John Stewart are just two of the storylines viewers can expect to see in "Race For The Crown," the latest sports documentary to air on Netflix. Produced by Box To Box, the company behind shows such as "Drive To Survive," "Full Swing," and "Tour de France: Unchained," "Race For The Crown" has taken more than four years to make the journey from an original concept to subscribers' screens April 22. As the title suggests, the six-part series centers on the road to the 2024 Kentucky Derby (G1)—starting at the previous season's Breeders' Cup—and carries through to the other two legs of the Triple Crown, the Preakness (G1) and the Belmont (G1) stakes. Horse racing is not short of big personalities and Box To Box's head of sports and factual, Warren Smith, described some of the characters and storylines revealed across the series as "explosive." Some of the other properties in the Netflix stable of sports documentaries have benefited from fortunate timing—the first series of "Full Swing" coincided with the dramatic rupture in men's professional golf—and Smith says the producers of "Race For The Crown" were no different in the build-up to the Kentucky Derby. "You make your own luck, I suppose, but we had been filming with the family of jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. that week (before the Derby) and when he won the Oaks, we thought that's a great 'tick' to round out his story. But for Kenny (McPeek) and Brian to then go on to win the big one, that was huge." There also was an element of good luck surrounding how Dettori, a figure with much less of a profile in the U.S. than almost anywhere else in the world, became such an integral part of the series. "I wanted Frankie as a talking head on the show," Smith said. "I thought he'd be the guy and we met his agent for lunch and he asked, 'Why don't you want him in the series riding?' When I said he was retiring, his agent told me otherwise and it transpired he was just round the corner. Within two minutes Frankie Dettori walks into the restaurant, sits down and we have a meeting. "He tells me he's moving to Los Angeles in three weeks and says, 'If you want to be there, be there.' We met him and his wife coming off the plane, moving into their apartment. He gave us amazing access throughout the year and we're very thankful." Of the ride the team went on with Dettori, Smith said: "We had an amazing entrance point with Frankie when we filmed him, knowing that he had a ride for Bob Baffert post-Kentucky, but he came to America to ride in the Derby. We followed that narrative of having probably the world's best trainer asking Frankie to be on his horse in the second race, but him asking himself what he should do in the first race." Smith added: "We had to tell a lot of the American team at Netflix just how big a deal he was, but once they realized they were thrilled we had him locked into the series." Although the finished product is dedicated to racing in North America, the genesis of "Race for the Crown" was a series of meetings set in motion by then Sky Sports Racing chief executive Matthew Imi, who was impressed by the way the early series of "Drive To Survive" had converted his own daughters into fans of Formula 1. "'Drive To Survive' was being talked about and it was shot in a very compelling way, giving people the inside track and showing us the characters in the sport," Imi said. "I felt that I should do something about it (for racing) and called Paul Martin, one of the two principals at Box To Box. "In my head I worked out a potential series I could talk to him about which focused on the top-level international events, starting at the Saudi Cup and then going to the Dubai World Cup, the U.S. Triple Crown, Royal Ascot, the Prix de l'Arc (de Triomphe), and culminating at the Breeders' Cup. "I also had in my head the idea of tracking European and U.S. trainers across that season, culminating in those characters coming together at the Breeders' Cup." After test filming with John and Thady Gosden, Joseph O'Brien, and Francis Graffard, followed later by on-site filming at the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) at Gulfstream Park, Netflix decided to narrow the focus of the show to the Triple Crown, although Imi is hopeful subsequent series could build on the relationships and goodwill built with some of the major racing authorities and trainers around the world. "We all know it will be beautifully produced because Box To Box always does a fantastic job," Imi said. "But we all hope it has a very positive effect on awareness of the sport and brings new people into the sport, and that it is good enough and impactful enough that Netflix wants to do a second series. They might then be tempted to broaden the remit a little bit and bring in the top-level international fixtures."