The Irish Derby became the Irish Sweeps Derby in 1962 and also one of the richest horse races in the world. Telefís Éireann covered the Derby from the Curragh; it was also taken live by the BBC and recorded by the ABC network in the USA.

The Derby was the most complicated outside broadcast Telefís Éireann had undertaken. Seven cameras were used to cover the race including a mobile radio camera hired from the BBC. Sound engineers also had to make arrangements for seperate commentaries by TE and BBC for the same pictures.

Micheal O'Hehir and Louis Gunning covered the race for TE and Peter O'Sullivan and Clive Graham fof the BBC. Shown here are scenes from the Curragh and the final stages as Tambourine II wins the big race.

The clip showing the finish of the Irish Derby 1962 is taken from 'The Curragh of Kildare'. 'The Curragh of Kildare' was a sports special programme broadcast 25 June 1976 the night before the Irish Sweeps Derby. The programme looked back at the Curragh and the Irish Derby.

The RTÉ Guide wrote of the programme, "In the 'Curragh of Kildare' on Friday night, Micheal O'Hehir - himself a living part of the racecourse's tradition - will recount much of the history of this famous piece of ground, scene of so many famous events in Irish racing history."

(RTÉ Guide 18 June 1976 Vol. 13 No. 25 p13 )

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