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I heard he had a family tragedy – though afaik no link was made to him when the incident was reported on the news.
I actually think his writing improved in recent years.
He ditched the wannabe Jeffrey Bernard rake persona and penned some quality stuff.
I haven’t actually read a copy of the Racing Post for years so wouldn’t know if he still writes for them.
Every man deserves to be at peace with himself – I hope he is.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"When he finally gets put out to grass harshthakor has his application form already filled out for the vacant post.
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I’d forgotten all about the family connection to the Westminster Bridge attack
He reminds me of the character ‘Bretherton’ in H.E. Bates ‘Love For Lydia’.
His well-publicised criticism of the go-ahead being given for Red Marauder’s epic Grand National was tantamount to treason from within the game itself and he should, at the very least, have had all implements enabling him to write taken away at that point.
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Bit harsh that, GM. Desperate conditions for Red Marauder’s GN.I thought only three finished but on googling, I see it was four but two remounted, so that’s worse.
AD always told a good tale, usually including copious amounts of booze. Not quite the same when he went on the wagon but looks like he’s fallen off that? Rarely buy a racing post now but glad that it looks like he’s still doing some writing for them.
He reminds me of the character ‘Kent Brockman’ in M. Groening’s ‘The Simpsons’.
Fixed it for you.
I think he comes across as a nice enough guy and I pity him for his difficulties but I can’t bear his writing
It’s impossible to read without a sick bucket to hand. It would be easier to keep down the stomach on a pedalo in a force 10 gale after consuming two bottles of cheap sickly wine, five pints of Guinness, a whole Black Forest gateau and five burgers fried in Diesel oil
Red Marauder’s Grand National was run in ground that would’ve seen any other meeting abandoned. Down was (as he was often in his brilliant if inconsistent career) quite right to criticise its running. Many knowledgable racing journalists made the same point – if I remember including Timeform.
Value Is Everything- Total Posts 2553
Make your mind up, clive, do you like his writing or not
No, Tank & Ginger! At a time when the GN was still somewhat under threat and prone to bad publicity the race went ahead and produced another of the epic tales in the race’s history with no injuries sustained by any horse or rider. It was an absolute classic of a renewal – as dramatic as any in days of yore. Subsequent comments by Down/RP, at that time lead C4 presenter and a noted journalist (ie very much part of the elite opinion-shapers within racing who should have been protecting the game), such as “stained” and “gutless, witless and utterly reckless” served no purpose other than to foster further damage to the image of the world’s most popular race in the eyes of the general, non-racing, public. And at a time, to boot, when he and other critics should in fact have been promoting, for example, the iconic and enduring memories of Carl Llewellyn pursuing his erstwhile mount, at first frantically, then optimistically, and finally with leisurely disbelief.
Down, the RP et al should have been proudly celebrating a legendary GN instead of encouraging a climate (in) which the ignorant could in future years exploit to emasculate one of Britain’s finest sporting traditions.
People don’t seem to like eloquent wordsmiths these days. Is it jealousy? May be not. It would after all be like me being jealous of Drone or Gamble for their ramblings. For sure Horse Racing is not about the written word. We can enjoy Horse Racing without needing to understand long words or great penmanship. Those of us struggling to put two words together should not be put off writing about the sport we love. However, can we not also appreciate those with a particular gift?
imo For all the inconsistency, at his best Alistair Down is perhaps racing’s Hugh Mcilvanney. Able to paint a racing picture for both enthusiast and non-enthusiast that few could / can match.
Value Is EverythingPeople don’t seem to like eloquent wordsmiths
Well there’s elegant wordsmithery and then there is what my old English teacher would have called “flowery”, which was a cardinal sin in her class. Although I’m probably as prone as anyone to a bit of flowery rambling. And grammatical incorrectness. Such as starting a sentence with a conjunction.
It is not surprising “no injuries sustained by horse or rider”. Injuries usually happen because of the force of impact. Bottomless ground has far more give underfoot than anything else. However, thast doesn’t account for exhaustion. Danger of running a race of extreme stamina in ground more stamina sapping than had ever been seen before – ground that would’ve seen any other meeting abandoned – was asking for trouble. Bad enough sight though it was; we were undoubtedly lucky the winner and second were known from some way out. Thankfully Richard Guest and Timmy Murphy both left their mounts to come home pretty much in their own time. Had it been a competitive finish exhaustion would’ve been a clear danger.
The “damage” was done by running the race, GM. A race that even many knowledgeable racing enthusiasts could not defend its running.
If that Grand National should have taken place then I take it you believe it is wrong to abandon any race?
Value Is EverythingGM,
If your book on the Grand National is a success, will you yourself become one of the “elite opinion-makers”?Value Is EverythingThe jockeys were sensible, it was the slowest winning time for over 100 years and abandonment was never seriously considered. The race was run successfully so no damage was done apart from that by Down etc after the fact.
Website not book, Ginger, and I hope not though those who have seen it seem to like it (still under construction).
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