Team managers announced for Racing League

PA Sport Reporters
March 22, 2022 2:38 pm

Last year’s top jockey Jack Mitchell will be in action again.

Group One-winning trainer Jamie Osborne, former trainer Mick Quinn and TV presenter Matt Chapman are among the seven team managers for the 2022 Racing League.

Osborne will lead Wales and the West, Quinn The North and Chapman London and the South, with Kevin Blake (Ireland), Linda Perratt (Scotland), Rupert Bell (The East) and Leonna Mayor (Yorkshire) other team leaders. Bell was captain of Team talkSPORT when they were victorious 12 months ago.

Over GBP 2million in prize-money is up for grabs over six meetings, all shown live on Sky Sports Racing and ITV. The first fixture is at Doncaster on August 4 and ends at Newcastle on September 15, taking in Lingfield Park, Newcastle, Windsor and Southwell on successive Thursday nights.

Some new faces are in the Racing League this year

This year will see a new format, with each team providing two runners per race selected by respective team managers.

A total of 123 trainers signed up to be involved in Racing League 2022 and all have been assigned to represent either their preferred or second-choice region.

The likes of Jessica Harrington, Joseph and Donnacha O’Brien and David O’Meara are signed up for Ireland, Hugo Palmer is on the Scottish team along with Alan King, while Sir Mark Prescott is part of a huge squad for The East.

A full list of participants can be found here:

Each team will have seven jockeys selected by the team managers in a draft. Those who have already signed up include Classic winner Tom Marquand and Jack Mitchell, who was crowned top rider in last year’s competition.

Jockeys pose ahead of last year's Racing League fixture at Doncaster — Jockeys pose ahead of last year’s Racing League fixture at Doncaster (Racing League)

Jeremy Wray, Racing League CEO, said: “We are delighted to announce team managers with such a wealth of racing knowledge and experience to represent the teams.

“They will play an important role this year starting with the jockey draft on Saturday which is something new for the sport and adds a really fun element to the competition. 100 jockeys have registered and those selected will join over 120 trainers who have signed up across the seven regional teams.

“We greatly appreciate the support shown by so many horsemen and look forward to adding further new initiatives for Racing League 2022 over the coming months.”