OLG is getting viewers up close and personal with horses, jockeys and trainers, taking a documentary-style approach to championing horse racing.

Unfiltered is a five-episode documentary series created by Taxi that offers viewers a glimpse into the heart of the province’s horse racing industry. It’s directed by Canadian director and ESPY Award-winner Jeremy Grant and is an attempt to capture the raw emotions, passion, and dedication that define the sport.

A trailer includes not just the racing and the starter’s gate, but also the emotional side that comes out in the stables, while grooming and during the hard work it takes to succeed at a high level.

“When you think about horse racing, you think about slow motion shots of running, with horses’ manes flowing in slo-mo,” says Graham Lang, Taxi’s CCO. “We were strapping Go-Pros onto horses, we were putting cameras on the race track, going into the locker rooms with the jockeys, going into the stables with the trainers, and we really wanted to give viewers an unprecedented, no-holds-barred POV of the sport.”

The approach was influenced by the likes of Netflix series Drive to Survive, which has helped Formula 1 racing rapidly expand its fanbase since it debuted in 2019. Given how significant the sport and the business of horseracing is to the province, a longer form approach made for an interesting and more expansive way to tell the story, Lang says.

Distributed through Bell Media channels, Unfiltered premiered its first episode on Crave on June 5 and will be featured on TSN and the TSN+ streamer, with new episodes released monthly.

Lang tells strategy that the idea of being “unfiltered” is not just a brand platform and the name of the series, it’s actually a means of showcasing the sport of horseracing in a raw, visceral and very real way. “[Unfiltered] became our production methodology,” he says.

It also ties into making the sport “populist as possible,” something Ontario Racing previously in other attempts to democratize horse racing and change perceptions of it being elitist.

Taxi began working with Ontario Racing about six months ago. The documentary launch is timed to coincide with the new racing season, and the broader campaign includes social and OOH elements. Ad spend is in line with previous efforts. EssenceMediacom is behind the buy.

The audience is as wide as possible, Lang says, and the brands are looking to connect with the horse racing community, but also engage with potential fans.