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Sport and the British

Lucy Lunt

Sara Conkey

Garth Brameld

Sport and the British: Episode 4: The Unsporting Side of Sport

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The Unsporting Side of Sport

Episode 4

Episode 4: The Unsporting Side of Sport

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Sport and the British, The Unsporting Side of Sport

Sport and gambling are inextricably linked, especially when it comes to horse racing.

Sport and gambling are inextricably linked, especially when it comes to horse racing. Clare Balding continues her exploration sport in Britain.

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.

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Clare Balding charts how sport has shaped the British and how Britain has shaped sport

Clare Balding presents a 30-part series charting how sport has shaped the British and how Britain has shaped sport

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BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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