Josh Apiafi: “Racing talks a good game - but where’s the action?” | The Enduring Race

The Final Furlong Podcast

News, Leisure, Hobbies, Sports, Sports News

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 11 October 2025

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this Final Furlong special, Emmet Kennedy sits down with Sky Sports Racing presenter Josh Apiafi, the driving force behind The Enduring Race, his new Sky Sports documentary examining whether horse racing has truly delivered on diversity, equality, and inclusion. Five years after his powerful film Leading The Way with Rishi Persad and Brian Finch, Josh returns with a sobering message: warm words aren’t enough. In this candid conversation, Josh explains:🎯 Why racing still has no centralised diversity strategy💰 The funding and leadership needed for real change📊 What the BHA’s missing data reveals about the sport’s blind spots⚖️ Lessons racing can learn from football, F1, and cricket💬 The abuse he and Rishi faced — and the allies who stood up🌍 Why racing must open its doors to survive the next decade Josh also shares the personal drive behind The Racing Pathway, his self-funded initiative to bring new voices and talent into the sport, and what gives him hope about racing’s next generation. 👉 Watch ‘The Enduring Race’ now on SkySports.com 🎙️ Subscribe to The Final Furlong Podcast for smart, fearless racing discussion every week. 📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube: youtube.com/@FinalFurlongPodcast🐎 Follow Emmet Kennedy: twitter.com/RadioEmmet 🔔 Like, comment, and share to support independent racing journalism — and join the conversation about racing’s future. 📺 Watch on YouTube🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & everywhere you get your racing fix. Join 1xBet Ireland today and get €30 in free bets when you place a €10 wager.👉 18+ | T&Cs apply | Play responsibly 🎁 Loss Refund Bet: Get a free bet back on losing wagers. 18+ | T&Cs apply https://1xbet.ie Form Tools: Proform is the essential tool for punters looking to make money from betting on Horse Racing. Our form book covers Jumps and Flat racing in the UK and Ireland. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.proformracing.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter: @FinalFurlongPod Email: [email protected] In association with Adelicious Podcast Network. Hosted on Megaphone. Follow us for free on Spotify Podcasts https://open.spotify.com/show/3e6NnBkr7MBstVx5U7lpld National Hunt racing, Cheltenham tips, Cheltenham Festival 2025, Aintree tips, Grand National preview, Punchestown Festival 2025, Horse racing betting tips, National Hunt horses to follow, Racing analysis, expert racing tips, Irish National Hunt, UK jumps racing, Gold Cup 2025 contenders, Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase, Final Furlong Podcast racing tips, #FinalFurlongPodcast, #NationalHunt, #CheltenhamFestival, #CheltenhamTips, #HorseRacingTips, #GrandNational, #JumpsRacing, #GoldCup, #HorseRacingBetting, #AintreeFestival, #PunchestownFestival Tom Malone, Emmet Kennedy, The Final Furlong Podcast, Native River, Envoi Allen, Paul Nicholls, bloodstock, horse racing podcast, Cheltenham, Grand National, Jumps racing tips, horses to follow 2025, racing interview, National Hunt season preview, French horses for sale, Bud Fox, Windbeneathmywings, Gameofinches, Jamie Snowden, David Pipe, Willie Mullins, Gavin Cromwell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you by Contentful.
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0:30.4	Never miss an episode of the Final Furlong podcast.
0:33.8	Subscribe now on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And now, here's your host, Emmett Kennedy. Welcome back to the show. We're joined by a really good friend of the Final Front podcast. He's made many appearances on the show, but you're very familiar with them, of course, from Sky Sports Racing. He's a broadcaster, entrepreneur and trailblazer. We've been driving the conversation around inclusion and opportunity in racing for over a decade. His new feature, The Enduring Race, is now streaming on skysports.com, and it follows up his powerful 2019 documentary leading the way with Rishi Passad and Brian Finch asking the vital question, is racing actually changed? Has it delivered on diversity, equality, and inclusion, or has it just talk the talk? joining us to discuss this, and I'm sure plenty more things in the racing industry, is our good friend Josh Epiafi.
1:15.2	Josh, you're very welcome back to the show.
1:16.4	Good evening, and it's an absolute pleasure to be here, Emma.
1:19.3	For those who haven't seen the enduring race yet, can you tell us what that story is about and why now?
1:24.3	Sure.
1:25.3	We started out in 20, well, SkySport tracing started in 2019.
1:30.8	And then I suppose society moved towards a more focus on diversity and inclusion
1:38.0	with the rise of Black Lives Matter, the more prominence of Black History Month,
1:45.2	the horrific scenes of George Floyd's murder,
1:48.4	and we as a sport, which has had a pretty, I suppose,
1:55.4	white privileged face being called the Sport of Kings and its royal patronage, which is brilliant and the historic
2:02.5	element of horse racing, but to move with the times and we needed to become far more diverse
	...

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