Looking Forward To Chepstow

For the first time since I have legally been allowed to bet (and let me tell you that is more years than I care to remember) I shall not be having a bet on the Grand National this year, indeed I would be pushed to name more than half a dozen of this year’s runners without looking them up.

In the immediate aftermath of last year’s National my reservations about the race began to come into sharper focus.

I had thought, even hoped, with time my concerns would mellow but they haven’t.

Whilst last year’s race added a few nails to the coffin the final straw was the BHA review into the race and the prosed solutions.

The review was a typical fudge by committee even more that I believe the changes could even make the situation worse.

In their infinite wisdom the committee decided to make a couple of the fences easier. That, in my mind, is wrong. Making them “easier” will mean they will be treated with less respect, they will be approached faster and this will result in more falls, especially coupled with refusal to reduce the safety limit in the contest.

The one mitigating factor in this renewal is the long awaited rain will result in softer ground and, hopefully, the filed approaching the fences at a safer pace.

However too much rain and we have the danger of another Red Marauder contest, which in its own way was unedifying.

I really hope I am proved wrong and this turns out to be a National which makes the news for all the right reasons.

It is difficult to “walk away” from the National, after all it forms my earliest racing memory, watching Nicholas Silver win the 1961 contest, watching it on a fuzzy black and white television.

That was the second time the BBC had televised the race and it is, perhaps, a symmetry that the last Grand National I watched would turn out to be the second last the BBC will broadcast.

When I told one of my racing friends I had given up on the National he summed it up perfectly when he said:-

“The National is a funny race, I can easily see why people might fall out of love with it. For me it's a bit like a teenage crush. You don't want to admit when it's over and you never quite get over it.”

So I’ll be spending Saturday at Chepstow although my attempts to avoid the National may well be thwarted as there is a massive 1 hour 5 minute gap between races three and four so racegoers can watch the Grand National – I may go into town and do some shopping. 

Not Our Greatest Day

First of all may I offer thoughts and best wishes to young jockey Peter Toole, his family and friends. Peter, a promising young rider, is critically ill in hospital after suffering an horrendous fall in one of the earlier races at Aintree. Let’s hope he makes a full recovery. The latest news is he has bleeding in his brain and he is being kept under sedation at a specialist neurological unit.

Just 24 hours ago, before the big race, I asked if the Grand National is the best race for the sports shop window.

How prophetic that question turned out to be as yesterdays renewal turned out to be a PR disaster for the sport.

I will imagine Racing For Change’s Rod Street would have had a sleepless night as a great deal of their hard work was undone yesterday afternoon.

I must confess I had a very sleepless night, I couldn’t get some of the images out of my head.

I case you were on another planet and are not aware, two horses were sadly killed on the first circuit, which resulted, for the first time, in fences being by-passed in the race.

At the first by-passed fence viewers were “treated” to the sight of a dead horse lying on the ground, covered in a tarpaulin.

Even worse was the shot at the by-passed Bechers Brook, where an overhead shot showed clearly what was happening behind the screens.

Yes horses do sadly die in horse races but in “normal” racing coverage the Racetech directors and camera operators are usually very careful in avoiding shots of dead and stricken horses wherever possible.

With yesterday’s effort you actually have to seriously question the motives of the BBC director. Why were the specific shots used? Did they have an ulterior motive? Did they deliberately show the most dramatic shots in order to shock?

I think the BBC were boasting they had 40 cameras covering the race. Are they seriously saying it was not possible to have shown the by-passed fences with more “sensitive” camera angles?

Indeed I believe the shot at Bechers directly contravenes the BHA guidelines which forbids transmission of images of what is happening behind the screens.

Aintree themselves are not exactly blame free. Why was Ornais covered in a tarpaulin. Yes the horse was dead but surely somebody at the fence would have realised a tarpaulin draped across a horse does not look good. Would it not have been more sensitive to have left the screens up, at least until the field had passed on the second circuit.

However the potential damage done to the image of the sport by shots of dead horses pales into insignificance when compared with the scenes at the end of the race.

The shots of horses finishing exhausted was unedifying, it actually looked cruel.

Winning jockey Jason Maguire quickly dismounted the winner as he was clearly distressed. Now I know the adrenalin must be flowing at the end of the race but shouldn’t Maguire’s first concern have been the welfare of the horse and making sure he was OK, not celebrating the win?

Full marks to fellow jockey Davey Russell who dis appreciate what was happening and he got the horse unsaddled.

It could not have helped the distressed horses having a scrum of photographers in the unsaddling area. I cannot help but agree with a comment made by Graham Cunningham where he was suggesting a number of those photographers were simply waiting to get a photograph of a horse collapsing.

The scenes at the finish yesterday were frankly a disgrace. The already distressed horses could not have been helped by the disorganised scrum.

Instead of being a showcase for our sport yesterday’s race illustrated much that was bad about racing.

Obviously an enquiry needs to be held, which I’m sure it will be. In particular the BBC coverage of the second circuit and the disgraceful scenes at the end of the race.

I will always try to defend the sport where I can. In the face of yesterday’s coverage of the Grand National even I am struggling to defend what was shown.

Greatest Jockey

The Grand National is probably the one race in the calendar which appears in the national consciousness, almost universally recognised outside the tightly knit world of racing.

It may be a quirky race, over an extreme distance and over somewhat unusual obstacles but, like it or not, it is horse racings shop window.

It is the one race non-racing followers talk about. It is the race inn which the once a year punters will have their £1 e/w bets. The form book goes out of the window and people choose horses for the strangest of reasons.

One hack in the press room at Lingfield on Saturday reported his wife had backed Don’t Push It because that is what she frequently says to him when they have a disagreement. He also went on to add “I won’t tell you why he also backed Big Fella Thanks.”

Whatever the reason for backing a horse it is racings big day.

The National is a race which invariably has a human touch story associated with the winner. Be it Red Rum’s three wins, including the heartbreaking clash with Crisp. Aldaniti with the horse recovering from injury and, of course, John Champion winning his battle with cancer and in the process making testicular cancer an issue which could be discussed openly. Indeed how many mens lives have been saved by Champion’s win?

Then we had Jenny Pitman becoming the first and, and until last year, the only woman to train the winner of the National.

The 2010 renewal had plenty of opportunity for “good stories” as well.

Dream Alliance, winner of the Welsh National, owned by members of a working mens club and raised on an allotment – already the potential subject of a film.

Sam Twiston-Davies, son of trainer Nigel, riding in his first national at the tender age of 17.

Barry Geraghty suddenly getting the leg-up on the favourite Big Fella Thanks when, just over an hour before the off Ruby Walsh demonstrated just how precarious the life of a jump jockey is as he was trampled, breaking his arm in the process. Or Richard Johnson, who picked up a “spare” rides as the result of Walsh’s injury.

And so on and so on.

However, discussing potential big stories before the race, there were two which really stood out.

The really big story, the one which would even have knocked the election off the front pages, would have been if Nina Carberry had become the first woman to win the big race. She was not without a chance on Character Building and, with respect to all the female riders who have gone before her in the National, she would have been a most worthy to become the first female winner. She has proved again and again that she is able to compete with the boys.

The other big story would have been AP McCoy winning the contest at the 15th attempt, the one race he really wanted to win above all others, the one that had eluded him. He has managed third place no less than three times.

It is a race in which McCoy seemed to be jinxed. In 2005 on Clan Royal, having overcome a slipped saddle he was six lengths clear approaching Bechers for the second time, seemingly having the race at his mercy, only to be carried out by a loose horse.

Before this years race McCoy actually pointed out, with seeming resignation, that he would feel his CV would not be complete if he did not win the Grand National, despite having been champion jockey for an unprecedented fourteen years.

Well, unless you have been on a desert island for the past 24 hours, you will now know McCoy has finally broken his hoodoo, the monkey is off his back or you can apply any other cliché you like – but shout it from the rooftops, Tony McCoy has finally won a National.

For all his great riding prowess, one criticism frequently aimed at McCoy is he shows little emotion. That was something else firmly laid to rest yesterday.

His relief and, yes, joy was palpable. His celebrations came from the heart, a release of fifteen years of pent up emotions.

He even cried.

"I'm being a big wuss. It means everything to me to win the Grand National," he said.

"I've won lots of big races and I'm supposed to be a good jockey, but to not win the Grand National would be a bit of a negative on the CV.

"I always thought I would win as I always believe that everything will happen.

"I have managed to win a few other races but not a Grand National.

"Everyone on the street knows the National as it is a people's race and from a jockey's perspective that is why it is important.

"After a mile I wouldn't have swapped him for anything else, and I don't just mean horses, as he had totally taken to it.

"I'm delighted for my mum and dad as they've been great for me throughout the years, and for my wife, Chanelle, and my daughter, Eve, who is two and a half.

"Hopefully now she'll be proud of me when she grows up.”

McCoy showed his detractors what those who do know him already knew, namely he is human and a very decent human being as well.

On top of the sheer delight of seeing McCoy win, I also take a perverse delight at the damage he inflicted on the bookmakers. Available at 20/1 on Saturday morning, McCoy’s mount was backed into 10/1 during the day, taking millions out of the bookmakers satchels – some “revenge” for the carnage inflicted on the punters at Cheltenham and the first two days of Aintree.

Lest anyone thinks my eulogising of McCoy’s win is tainted by pocket talking let me say his victory actually cost me money.

Because of his record in the race I did not back him, my money was on the runner-up, so his win cost me money – but you know what? I don’t care, seeing the sheer delight of Anthony Peter McCoy made the loss insignificant.

Unless they have hearts of stone, there cannot be a single person who follows National Hunt racing, a single person in the massive Aintree crowd or a single person watching at home who would begrudge McCoy his victory yesterday or failed to have been moved by his reaction.

McCoy smiled and everyone smiled with him.

For the first time racings showpiece was broadcast in HD. Coincidentally this week I also bought a new large screen HD television.

I was watching the all-weather fare at Lingfield on Saturday afternoon, so ended up watching the National on the television in the press room.

It was a good race to watch and the BBC commentary was good. Jim McGrath, who frankly had a mare on the first two days, rose to the occasion and both Ian Bartlett and Darren Owen were excellent.

However when I got home on Saturday evening I watched the HD recording of the race – well what can I say, it was exceptional. The detail was superb. You could almost reach out and touch the horses, it was just like being there. On the close-up shots you could see the details of the horses muscles, you could see the muscles ripple as they moved.

Watching the HD coverage really was the icing on what was already a very well baked cake.

John Hunt - The Perfect Radio Commentator

I have just had my first Saturday at home since January 9th and looking at my diary I will not have another one until July 17th .

It isn’t a desertion of racing that led me to be at home but after a week “commuting” to Cheltenham I was yearning for a lie-in and some proper food.

I even had a desire to eat some fruit and veg, which may not sound unusual except I view vegetables in almost the same way a vegan views a perfectly cooked fillet steak. Never mind five-a-day I am lucky if I can muster 5-a-week. But after a diet of fast food, namely bacon rolls, burgers and fish and chips my body was crying out for some decent food.

It gave me a chance to catch up on the oft maligned Channel Four Racing and I have to say I found their coverage to be perfectly OK. Yes it would be nice to have more paddock coverage but that is also a criticism that can also be laid at both dedicated racing channels.

I also took the opportunity to catch up on C4’s coverage of Cheltenham and, again, they made a good fist of it but I wish once again they would show more of the horses in the preliminaries rather than some of the “features” but I suppose they also have to cater for the non-racing viewers as well.

Also was it me but were there more commercial breaks than usual.

The most annoying aspect of C4’s coverage was the fancy camera work with far too many changes of angle and close-up shots. This wouldn’t normally bother me but in the media centre they were using the Channel 4 pictureswhich meant the DVD recorder in the media centre also recorded these shots. This meant when watching a replay it was difficult to get a proper picture of what was going on in the race, it was so exasperating.

As always Simon Holt’s commentary was faultless. Although it has to be said all the commentators covering the Festival were on top form. Richard Hoiles, Mike Cattamole and Mark Johnson for the on-course and, especially, John Hunt on BBC Radio.

It has to be said John Hunt’s commentaries are a far cry from those of Peter Bromley and even his successor the excellent Lee McKenzie and I have to say the difference has taken some getting used to. John has a more relaxed, informal approach to his calling.

He does, however, provide the perfect commentary for radio. Not only can he paint a picture of what is happening in the race, the picture he creates is in glorious Technicolor, giving you a real feel of what is happening and the atmosphere.

Hunt has, in the last year, given the two best radio commentaries on any sporting event. If you can listen to his call of Sea The Stars Arc and this weeks Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Being at both events I did not hear his calls live but I heard both later on. He manages, almost perfectly, not only to convey what is happening but to also convey the electric atmosphere. Listening to both those commentaries I can relive the emotions I felt at the time.

Being a commentator, especially a racing commentator, is one of the most difficult broadcasting jobs around. Being a radio commentator, in any sport, is even harder. Being an exceptional radio commentator is a rarity but in John Hunt I believe we have one.

On the subject of the BBC Radio coverage of Cheltenham it is right to give credit where credit is due.

Last year I was very critical of the coverage, in particular the “pantomime” coverage on one of the afternoons.

This year there was no repeat, instead good professional coverage and there seemed to be more coverage in other shows as well, although we still had to suffer Peter Allen’s clear dislike of the sport.

I was particularly impressed with the coverage on Sport On Five on Friday evening, which made for good listening driving home from the course. Of course it helps when the presenter has a liking for the sport .

So well done BBC Radio and very well done Mr Hunt.

TV Cannot Attract Many New Racegoers

There has been a decent debate on one of the racing forums in recent days about coverage of racing on terrestrial television. In particular Channel Four’s coverage on Saturday afternoon.

The gist of some of the complaints is the standard of coverage, coupled with the BBC’s reduction of racing coverage, will not attract new followers to the sport.

I would contend no matter how slick the presentation is on television, very few new racegoers will be attracted via the medium, unlike in the “good old days” when many of my generation found the sport via television.

The trouble is society has changed.

I certainly got my love of racing from watching it on television on Saturday afternoons, in black and white as well. With “The Voice” on BBC and Tony Cook on ITV - along with John Rickman, Clive Graham et al. Initially though I watched it not out of choice but because there was little else to do as an alternative.

In those days there was little competition for the leisure time – people didn’t go out much at weekends, most families didn’t even have cars – we never had one.

There were only two television channels for goodness sake and both of those had sport on Saturday afternoons – probably racing on both channels at the same time – a monopoly.

Nowadays there are so many other attractions – it is only events like the Grand National and, to a lesser extent, The Derby and Royal Ascot that will probably attract the casual viewer.

Nowadays I think it will be more luck than anything else if somebody is converted to the sport via television – the two opportunities we have are the National because it is so popular and possibly Royal Ascot where we may just catch a few of those tuning in to watch the fashions.

So, although it grieves me to say it, no matter how slick the presentation - I don’t think terrestrial coverage in 2010 will draw in as many newcomers to the sport as we need – which is why, heaven help us, Racing For Change is going to be so critical to the future of our sport.

A Symmetrical Year

In terms of racing there has been a certain symmetry to 2009.

The year began with the racing program being decimated by bad weather and the year is ending the same way.

Both the flat and National Hunt scenes have been dominated, literally, by stars.

We have seen the 25th anniversary of all-weather racing in the UK and continued decline of racing coverage on the BBC.

Also the sport is having to face the realisation of the wider economic slump.

It is ironic with all the talk of global warming racing has been badly hit by freezing conditions in 2009. January and February saw the loss of 52 meetings, whilst December is also seeing a spate of weather related cancellations.

Racing authorities responded to the spate of cancellations by scheduling extra all weather meetings, mainly – or is that exclusively – at the behest of the bookmakers, who seem to be champions of the sandpit racing. Presumably because it is fodder for the mug punters.

Indeed the bookmakers have again been flexing their muscles in 2009. To the extent one seriously has to ask who actually runs racing – is it the BHA or is it the bookmakers. One sometimes wonders.

Hindsight is wonderful but I must confess if I could turn the clock back to 1961 when betting offices were “legitimised” I would fight the bill tooth and nail. Looking back I do not believe the bookmaking industry has been good for racing and racing would have been better served has we had a Tote monopoly with a fixed percentage going back into the sport. With such provision the sport would, I believe, be in a better financial situation than it currently is.

We are now faced with the situation where the industry basically has to go “cap in hand” to the Levey negotiations to try and get money from the bookmakers, most of whom are now based offshore.

Indeed the Levy is archaic. With racing accounting for only a small percentage of bookmakers turnover it seems incongruous the industry should be treated as a special case. If racing receives a levy then why shouldn’t football, rugby, tennis, golf or cricket?

On the track we have been treated to two super stars, one in either code. This year it is impossible to claim the two champions are not stars as it is in their name. In the yellow corner, for the flat team we have Sea The Stars and for National Hunt, in the green and yellow corner, we have Kauto Star.

John Oxx’s Sea The Stars is the undisputed star of the flat in 2009. He overcame a training setback to win the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket.

The Derby was the next target, a race he approached with doubts about his stamina over 1½ miles. As he demonstrated his fantastic turn of foot The Derby was won without even breaking into a sweat. His detractors claimed he was lucky in the race was run to suit him


Next up was the Coral Eclipse at Sandown, down to 1¼ miles but taking on his elders for the first time. This time he had to work hard for victory but victorious he was beating fellow three-year-old Rip Van Winkle by a length with their elders four lengths plus in arrears.


Then the Juddmonte at York, only three rivals all from the O’Brien yard with Mastercraftsman his only serious rival. Riding a waiting race jockey Mick Kinane asked for an effort a furlong out and Sea The Stars eased into the lead for another length victory.

It was back to home territory in September as he lined up in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown. Once again his main challengers came from the O’Brien yard and although O’Brien runners took 2nd, 3rd and 4th places the winner was invariably Sea The Stars with a comfortable 2½ length victory.

His swan son was in, arguably, Europe’s greatest middle distance race the Prix De l’Arc De Triomphe at Longchamp. Two furlongs out it looked as though he was going to blot his copy book. However his veteran rider Mick Kinane did not panic and when a gap appeared he weaved his way through, the horse showing fantastic acceleration and a furlong out he was in front.

The rest, as they say, is history.

I was privileged to be in Paris that afternoon. I have never seen or felt such raw emotion at a racetrack. Standing in the press viewing area, surrounded by wizened and hardened hacks I wasn’t the only one to have tears running down my cheeks.

The brilliant horse, having achieved the unique Guineas / Derby / Arc treble has been retired to stud. Hopefully next year he will cover Zarkava , the 2008 Arc winner.

His rider Mick Kinane also decided to hang up his boots – not sure if he is off to stud as well – after a brilliant career and a season it would be impossible to better.

Also on the flat Ryan Moore was, once again, champion jockey.

Kieran Fallon finally returned to the saddle to show what a good rider he can be and he can put his demons behind him he could be the one to give Moore most to worry about next season.

On the jumps it was the other star Kauto Star who has taken most of the plaudits.

Having won last years King George for the third time his 2009 debut was in the Blue Riband Cheltenham Gold Cup, where he faced stablemate Denman (returning after a heart scare) and his old rival Exotic Dancer.


The race was over three from home when he hit the front and powered clear to record a 13 length victory over Denman with Exotic Dancer a further 2½ lengths back in third. In winning the race he became the first horse to regain the Gold Cup.

After his summer break her returned to Haydock for the Betfair Chase, where last year he unseated Sam Thomas at the last. He put in a clear round this year but his backers had a fright as Imperial Commander made him fight all the way to the line, with many observers thinking the champion had been beaten. After what seemed ages Kauto Star was awarded the race by a nose.


His final appearance this year was his attempt to win a fourth consecutive King George. Lining up against a high class field he put in what can only be described as the perfect performance.

His jumping was sublime and foot perfect. Taking the lead turning for home the judge needed binoculars not a camera to determine the winning distance as he came home 36 lengths clear of his rivals.

Of course his stablemate Denman cannot be ignored. Coming back from his heart scare he had an easy introduction back, coming second to Madison du Berlais at Kempton.

Next up was the Gold Cup, where he was arguably still not fully fit, and his second to Kauto Star.

He reappeared quickly in the Totepool Bowl at Aintree where he took a crashing fall two out. The screens went up and he was taken away in a horse ambulance but luckily the worse he suffered was a bad cut. The news was not so good for Exotic Dancer, runner-up in the contest, who sadly collapsed and died in the stables after the race.

After a summer break Denman was back at Newbury for the Hennessy. Burdened with a top weight of 11st 12lbs he was giving 17lbs plus to his rivals.

Despite this welter burden he came home a convincing 3½ length winner.

Elsewhere Venetia Williams became only the second woman to train a Grand National winner as 100/1 outsider Mon Mome took the Aintree showpiece.

It is hard to believe 2009 saw the 25th anniversary of all-weather racing. To some a great racing format to others the spawn of the devil.

It was mixed news for racecourses in 2009. Attendances seemed to buck the recession with a slight year on year rise on 2008.

January saw the demise of the ill-fated Great Leighs a course seemingly fated from the outset, late opening and seemingly dragged down by poor management.

By contrast the UK’s newest course Ffos Las opened to near universal acclaim. Its well drained racing surface attracting praise from some of the toughest critics – the top trainers.

Mixed news for those who rely of terrestrial for the television coverage. The BBC announcing they are greatly reducing their 2010 coverage on television.

BBC Radio has fared little better with their plumbing the depths and turning their racing coverage into a pantomime farce on the Friday of Royal Ascot.

A new agreement has been reached with Channel Four, however at a cost to racing where the industry is paying C4 to cover the sport – another case of the tail wagging the dog?

As in the real world the recession has hit the sport. The Levy being reduced with a consequential drop in prize money. Even the top owners are cutting back, some reducing their strings others leaving the sport entirely.

It will be interesting to see what impact the financial crisis in Dubai has on the Arab involvement in the sport. They are saying the funding issues are separate and unconnected. However I fail to see how, morally, the rulers of Dubai can continue to inject such huge funds into the sport when their country is verging on bankruptcy.

All in all 2009 has been an eventful year – I wonder what 2010 has in store for us?

BBC Contempt For Racing

Once again the BBC has clearly illustrated the contempt in which it holds racing.

In the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year, racing was given a derisory 45 seconds, plus a surreal item on Sea The Stars by that well known racing personality Professor Robert Winston – I cannot recall the last time I saw him on a race course!!

Yet BBC Radio’s erstwhile racing correspondent, Cornelius Lysaght, says in a Twitter posting “Racing industry loves to knock this prog but decent coverage length.”

Decent length?

A 45 second summary in a two hour program – decent?

Plus a meaningless item about, arguably the greatest horse of this generation, fronted by a fertility expert with no active involvement in racing. Why couldn’t Jim McGrath have presented an item about the horse?

Even gymnastics and cycling had a greater air time in the program.

Can you imagine the outcry if Football was dismissed in such an offhand manner? There would be questions in The House.

Then there was the award itself … Ryan Giggs, in defence of his victory Lysaght says, “here is a 36 year old decent guy still playing that you cant fail to admire.”

What about AP McCoy? He has been around almost as long as Giggs, has made a greater contribution to his sport than Giggs has ever made to his, yet he never, ever makes the shortlist.

Racing on BBC Television will be almost non-existent next year as they “cherry pick” the big races, Grand National, Derby, Royal Ascot and a couple of other meetings. Remember the days when Grandstand always had racing almost every week, sometimes two meetings in an afternoon.

It isn’t much better on BBC Radio Football, sorry Radio Five Live.

If there is a goal somewhere in some obscure game in the Blue Square Conference that will invariably take precedence over a live race commentary.

Even when there is live commentary it risks becoming a pantomime farce, literally.

BBC Radio has one of the best commentators in the business in the shape of John Hunt, yet even he ends up playing the stooge in a pantomime farce, a criminal waste of his talent.

Cast your mind back to the Friday of Royal Ascot 2009.

Instead of dedicated coverage of the Royal Meeting, coverage was interspersed with the Simon Mayo show (a broadcaster who makes no secret of his dislike of racing). On this particular afternoon he was performing a double act, in front of an audience, with some character called Mark Kermode, or listening to what he spouts he should perhaps be called Mark Commode.

Two races, the Albany and Coronation Stakes were to be broadcast during this sequence.

What happened, with both races, was that Cornelius Lysaght came up with 3 fancied horses and allocated them to the left hand, middle and right hand sections of the audience back in the studio.

They were instructed to cheer every time that horse was mentioned. During the race John Hunt would pause every time he mentioned one of these horses and they'd cut to the studio audience cheering.

Granted it was an extreme example and has, fortunately, never been repeated.

However the coverage was crass, embarrassing and should never have been broadcast in the first place.

What were Lysaght and Hunt thinking of agreeing to take part in such a farce?

Surely they are not that desperate to get the racing broadcast that they would stoop to any level?

If I were the racing correspondent, I would have refused point blank to play along with the charade and if it meant the races not being broadcast then so be it. I would, however, have made damned sure the public knew why the races had not been broadcast.

Even ignoring this extreme example there are still plenty of unnecessary interruptions in commentaries, especially in national hunt races, to serve as a distraction.

People generally listen to racing commentaries on the radio because they are unable to watch the race live or on television. They need the commentator to paint the picture of what is happening, developing the scene.

What they don’t want is to hear the views of Luke Harvey or anybody else, as the horses cross the Melling Roadback onto the main course at Aintree, they want to hear John Hunt describing the action.

Racing is not like football or golf, where commentators can be whimsical or engage in chit-chat. The action is relatively short and sharp and nothing should detract from the action on the track.

Since the late Peter Bromley retired the diminution of racing coverage on BBC Radio has been palpable.

No more classified racing results, no more results in sports bulletins. No more morning or evening racing bulletins.

One of the “justifications” for dropping the racing results was the information is available on Teletext or the internet. Not if you are driving and want to hear the results it isn’t!! Anyway the same argument could be applied to any sports results or sports news. Why not drop the classified football results, after all they are available on text and online?

I remember, a couple of years ago, when Alan Lee in The Times broke the story that BBC Radio were to drop the morning racing bulletins, it was contemptuously and arrogantly denied by John Myers in that mornings racing bulletin. Yet everything Lee predicted has come about.

It is conspicuous that neither Clare Balding nor Cornelius Lysaght have publicly come out to criticise the BBC’s approach to racing. Perhaps they are more interested in protecting their careers than the sport they follow, only they can answer that.

Do they really think what the BBC is doing in relation to the sport is acceptable?

If so then I would respectfully suggest they should make way for others who will fight, and fight publicly, for racing to have the air time it deserves.

If they do not agree then they should have the moral courage to fight their corner and fight it publicly, they would have a great deal of support from both inside and outside the sport.

It is an absolute disgrace that the BBC is being allowed to marginalise racing, a sport which has attracted almost 5.5 million live spectators in the first 11 months of 2009.

Had these changes been proposed under Peter Bromley's watch, the foundations of Broadcasting House would be shaking as a result of his explosive reaction. In these PC days it seems the acceptable thing is to roll over and accept the cuts.

Peter Bromley must be turning in his grave.

BBC Racing Commentary

There has been a great deal of debate on Racing forums recently about the commentating ability of Jim McGrath.

Allow me to play Devil’s advocate here and present the following –

Those of us who follow racing closely mostly watch the racing on course or via one of the specialist racing channels.

For Joe Public most of their experience of racing comes via terrestrial television and that is the main shop window for the sport to attract potential future racegoers.

Whether we like it or not, there is a responsibility for the public service broadcaster to ensure the best commentator provides the commentary, if the commentary and presentation on terrestrial TV is bland and average it will be less likely to attract new followers to the sport.

My earliest racing memories were, as a child, listening enthralled to the commentaries of Peter O’Sullevan and Tony Cook on the television and those, more than anything else, first kindled my interest racing.

For many years it was “The Voice” who filled that role perfectly. To be honest whoever followed him was almost on a hiding to nothing as he was a near impossible act to follow. At the time Jim McGrath was probably the best caller to take on the mantle.

Although his commentaries are perfectly adequate I think there is a common consensus that Jim’s commentaries are not as good and do not have the same edge or enthusiasm as they once had.

As a responsible broadcaster is it not incumbent of the BBC to consider if they currently have the best person in the role?

The trouble with the BBC is once you are in place you almost have a job for life. (I used to work for the BBC and I remember being told on my first day, only half jokingly, you can have an affair with the DG’s wife if you want – the only thing they will sack you for here is not buying a TV licence). The BBC also seem to like to plan succession, Jim was clearly in place to follow Sir Peter and it looks as though Barty is there to eventually succeed Jim.

For all their faults C4 will replace their senior caller if a better option is available (Simon Holt replacing GG for example)

C4 are, more and more, reverting to using the on course commentary instead of their usual team. Mark Slater was used for Bangor today and I notice Lee McKenzie is apparently being used at Wincanton next Saturday.

This begs the question, does the BBC need to have a staff commentator?

Racing is probably unique amongst mainstream sports in that it provides commentary at the venue. The standard of oncourse commentary is better than ever, so why not, like C4, use the racecourse feed?