Hear the full interview
From 22:28 in Thursday’s episode of Nick Luck Daily. Press play to start at the interview.
Michael Owen says talks are under way about a second series of Meet the Owens, his family documentary on Prime Video, and the cameras were even at the Breeders’ Cup.
“We literally had a chat about two weeks ago about the potential of doing a season two, so we’re talking, put it that way,” Owen told Nick Luck at the Bahrain Turf Club, where he is supporting his trainer Hugo Palmer ahead of Friday’s Bahrain International Trophy. “The guys actually came out to the Breeders’ Cup. They followed us out there because they didn’t want to miss anything. So there’s every possibility we might go again. We enjoyed doing it, the feedback’s been incredible, and Amazon were delighted with the viewing figures. You’re not going to get recommissioned unless people are watching.”
The first series took 15 or 16 months to film. Owen said it ended up being more about family than racing. “Originally we wanted it to be 80% racing, 20% family. It ended up sort of reversing, for a variety of reasons,” he said. “A little bit of support from within the game would have been one of those things, which I was pretty disappointed about. But now people have seen it and know it can only be good for racing, I think a lot of people want to jump on it.”
“Now people have seen it and know it can only be good for racing, I think a lot of people want to jump on it.”
Michael Owen
Palmer’s ‘bleeped’ moment
Palmer explained why he stayed in the background in the first series. “The production company, Whisper, were so pleased with the first episode, where they’d created the jeopardy of a must-win race at Chester,” he said. “The instructions I had given my jockey weren’t carried out to my satisfaction, and I was absolutely steaming. Certain things I said had to be bleeped out of the original cut. The TV people said, ‘God, this is such good television.’ I said, ‘Yes, but you can’t show it.’ So I took a slightly more backward role after that, but I feel a bit more comfortable about it now.”
Two runners in the big race
Owen has two runners in Friday’s race, Seagulls Eleven and Glacius. Seagulls Eleven, owned by a syndicate of past and present Brighton and Hove Albion players, will have Brighton defender Lewis Dunk flying out to watch. “He’s been a bit of a flag-bearer for a few years now,” Owen said. “He’s a gelding, so he will continue, and hopefully give the lads more of these types of trips. When you get a good one, we all know how exciting racing can be.”
Palmer groaned when Seagulls Eleven drew stall one. “It is the shortest way round,” he said. “I would just have preferred to be a little bit further off the fence to give the jockey a bit of choice. He jumped awkwardly in the Prix Dollar, and if he were to do that down on the fence here, with horses around him jumping fast, he could find himself buried on the rail, which is probably not where he wants to be. So we’ve really only got one option from that draw.”
Glacius drew stall six, and Owen thinks a strong pace could help. “It’s a long straight here, and a lot of these races develop quite close to home,” he said.
