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Seeing these historic scenes again is great.
They should have done an entire afternoon just showing these heavyweights who have won our hearts for the last 30 odd years.Yeah that was a real joy to watch, the pictures of Sir Henry made my eyes all itchy
I’m with you there.
Just seeing those long gone flat race finishes with the rock star silks of the day makes me feel happy.
Niarchos, sheikh mohammed, hamdan, moller etc wowGreat way to go out. They were much criticised but in five years or less, people will look back dewy-eyed at what we had for so long. I doubt ITV will see out the contract and would bet any amount that terrestrial racing will be finished forever after ITV.
The look back was interesting – liked it – but could’ve done better. Concentrated too much on the 2000s. C4 took over in 1984.
Value Is EverythingAgreed, there is so much to work with they should have done an entire show of it.
No need for any presenter saying a word, the lifer racing fans know them all by sight anyway.I thought Graham Cunningham was insensitive to ask Freddy Tylicki if he wanted to have a job in tv, clearly Tylicki is having enough problems coming to terms with his life changing accident and didn’t need Cunningham trying to get him a job.
Poor Freddy clearly hasn’t even thought about his future yet and clearly from his response was not impressed with being asked about such things.
The look back was interesting – liked it – but could’ve done better. Concentrated too much on the 2000s. C4 took over in 1984.
Suspect that anything before the days of HD was up against it for inclusion.
The look back was interesting – liked it – but could’ve done better. Concentrated too much on the 2000s. C4 took over in 1984.
Suspect that anything before the days of HD was up against it for inclusion.
Good point, Joe.
Bloody HD!
Value Is EverythingI thought Graham Cunningham was insensitive to ask Freddy Tylicki if he wanted to have a job in tv, clearly Tylicki is having enough problems coming to terms with his life changing accident and didn’t need Cunningham trying to get him a job.
Poor Freddy clearly hasn’t even thought about his future yet and clearly from his response was not impressed with being asked about such things.
If I were Freddy, I’d be glad of looking to the future, Steve. Instead of looking back at what he had and could’ve had.
Value Is EverythingIt was a shame that they didn’t remember members of their team who are no longer with us such as John Oaksey. They could also have showed a replay of their first ever broadcast but as said above that’s probably not available on HD and wanted to avoid showing anything with Derek Thompson who I think presented the first Morning Line.
I loved the description given on Sky’s TV schedule for C4’s action today: will include the Welsh National from Kempton Park and the Desert Orchid chase from Chepstow.
Couldn’t even get that right.
It was a shame that they didn’t remember members of their team who are no longer with us such as John Oaksey. They could also have showed a replay of their first ever broadcast but as said above that’s probably not available on HD and wanted to avoid showing anything with Derek Thompson who I think presented the first Morning Line.
Yes, and the likes of Francombe and McCririck too. Love or loathe, they were undeniably major figures. Looks like any presenters from the pre 2012 era are “non-history”!
It was a very dignified and surprisingly understated farewell but I was surprised how superficial the closing montage was, virtually ignoring the Graham Goode era apart from Dancing Brave and a couple of others in favour of much more recent clips.
Before that, it was only really Graham Cunningham who slipped in reminders that it was Channel 4’s last day.
A roll call and clip of the many presenters, pundits and commentators over the years would have been good but sadly it was missing.
Rishi Persad and Mick Fitzgerald speaking fondly of “the last four years” seemed a bit incongruous considering the longevity of the channel’s coverage overall.
And no sign of a collection of funnies and bloopers. All strangely low key and unsatisfactory, perhaps an emblem of how Channel 4’s coverage had become.
Simon Holt seemed positively gloomy at the end, as well he might, and contrasted with Richard Hoiles looking and sounding very pleased with himself at Chepstow, as indeed he might, considering he has inherited the top commentator’s role thanks to John Hunt’s loyalty to the BBC.
Channel 4 managed to go out with a whimper, not a bang, but I certainly agree that we will probably come to look back on their tenure with affection.
I also thought they could/should have paid a tribute to those who’d presented in years gone by. Like it or not John McCririck was for many the public face of Channel 4 Racing for much of its existence. I suppose he had them in court a couple of years ago so was hardly likely to be heralded today but little mention of those such as Down, Francome, Oaksey, Scott, Thompson, etc, whose contributions to its history have been much greater than most of the current roster.
I like most of the recent incumbents, they are for the most part highly professional, knowledgeable and accomplished. It was also clear that for most of them it was a dream job they loved doing. And that, in some senses, was a bit of a problem because somehow, along the way, I felt they enjoyed their own participation so much that they forgot a little about the viewer and their obligation to entertain.
Joe could well be right, we may be seeing the curtain start to fall on terrestrial coverage of racing. For most of us racing on television provided the window through which we first glimpsed and fell for this fantastic sport of ours. Who knows what the future will hold for racing, the world has changed much since 1984 and it’ll continue to change apace no doubt. But you would think though that the exposure offered by terrestrial telly would be difficult, if not impossible, to substitute.
The montage at the end today was very enjoyable. Even this hard Scottish heart melted a little when the shots of Walter Swinburn and Pat Eddery appeared. And to end with Frankel’s Guineas was a great decision.
I’m looking forward to seeing how ITV shapes up!
Like many others I was looking forward to seeing some classic Channel 4 moments with the likes of Oaksey, Francome and Big Mac and I definitely thought we would have seen the first broadcast in 1984. The clips they did show seemed to be pretty random.
The one thing these clips did show was what a loss Simon Holt will be.
Ps, I thought terrestrial coverage had come to an end. No racing on ITV1 from new years day until the festival.
Great way to go out. They were much criticised but in five years or less, people will look back dewy-eyed at what we had for so long. I doubt ITV will see out the contract and would bet any amount that terrestrial racing will be finished forever after ITV.
You could argue that outside of the forty or so days dedicated to the big meetings, it is finished. I dont see a Racing section on the ITV website, nor even a racing story on there for over a month.
Honestly I dont think Mick Fitz, an ATR Friday night lounge act, and the Newmarket society will be a big draw on the backwater channel.
I wish them well and hope I’m wrong.
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