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Good point by Paul about angles – we are very lucky as viewers, the TV pics we get these days are brilliant, but not all the cameras can be side-on all the time so you can be deceived.
The most obvious example I can think of is at Taunton (a regular gig of mine, and a track I enjoy) – early in the back straight the runners are directly opposite the stand, so the commentator can read out an exact order through bins. However, when you see the replay, it looks completely different because of the angle – the horses on the outside look much closer than they actually are and sometimes it sounds to me as if I’m naming them in a completely random order (no comment please!!)
Another good example is Brighton – the horses arriving late and very wide can be almost level even though they may look up to 2 lengths behind. And in big field "splits", the near side group is usually doing better than it would appear to a newcomer to the sport. That’s the general rule about parallax – as the horses run towards you, you should slightly favour the ones on the camera side (but not to the point where you start to over-compensate).
That brings us to the inevitable question – should commentators use bins to take those angles into account, or just stick to the monitor so their words exactly match the pictures?
Btw, really looking forward to my trip to Perth for the Gold Cup at the end of the month, maybe see some of you there. Cheers, Lee
Lee
Best of luck calling them up the straight at Perth. I often having differing opinions to the race commentator as to what’s in front!
My favourite position to race read at Perth is from the little wooden steps by the last fence. The drawback is that I have to watch the replay to see the finish, but over jumps the crucial action happens before then anyway.
Rob
The drawback is that I have to watch the replay to see the finish, but over jumps the crucial action happens before then anyway.
Mostly agree, except when the likes of Carthys Cross and Roman Villa are dogging it furiously up the run-in.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
gc
I didn’t need a replay to spot it with Nevsky Bridge the other day. The fact that she was pointing her head left toward the rail was a bit of a clue!
Rob
Smiling to the grandstands, was she? What a tart.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
She did exactly the same at Kelso yesterday, but ‘accidentally’ ended up in front! In a field of seven dodgepots something had to win and to his eternal credit James Halliday managed to kid her to the front just before the line.
Rob
Little wrong with Iain at Cartmel tonight, by the sounds of it – his favourite course as well as mine, and clearly happy to be there once again.
Nice to see some pointing form come to the fore as well with Its Teescomponents landing the intermediate handicap. Very much a horse set alight by a spell hunting and racing between the flags.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Yep some cracking action last night.
Sam Thomas was very brave going at it from the front in the 2m5f Chase but rode it well and was like the Sam of old.
Why do you need marketing people when Cartmel sells itself to you, Fantastic course and hope to make it their at the August meeting.
I think the fourth Irish caller you may have heard (normally Down Royal) is Justin O’Hanlon (RP Irish hack).
Aye, that’s him. Commentated at Downpatrick two Fridays ago, and nailed each race completely. Shame other commitments prevent him from doing more.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Ah, turns out it was actually Richard Pugh, who’s also just done all the days of last weekend’s Down Royal meeting.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
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