- This topic has 45 replies, 24 voices, and was last updated 18 years, 7 months ago by
.
- Posts
Lee
I didn’t realise that, but it still doesn’t excuse Smith’s actions imo – some of the finishes we are talking about have been so close that you would need to look at the photo/still for at least 30 seconds or so before coming to a definite decision one way or the other. We aren’t talking heads and necks here – more nostril hairs….
Holt calling Borderlescott the winner at the weekend was a prime example of an over-excited commentator. He was desperate to call Borderlesscott winning it two years in a row.. That went wrong. I couldn;t believe he called it at the time.
thanks Lee, that explains a lot, but it would still be nice if prints could be available for the public to view around the racecourse whether or not a photo has been called.
Holt calling Borderlescott the winner at the weekend was a prime example of an over-excited commentator. He was desperate to call Borderlesscott winning it two years in a row.. That went wrong. I couldn;t believe he called it at the time.
On initial viewing I thought that Simon Holt had called it correctly. It was an error of judgement and no more than that, and off hand i can’t remember a similar mistake made previously by Simon holt. Ultimately though it was merely a mistaken call by the commentator and one that has no bearing on the race result. If anyone bets on the photo on the basis of the commentator’s call, and surely that is the only issue which might be affected, then they only have themselves to blame.
Rob
We’ve got two callers here one never ever calls a close finish but the other always does. He’s been here about 12 months now and has never missed a beat.
Of course the difference being that he isn’t the judge either so even if he is wrong it doesn’t make any difference. But he is incredibly good
and we have some strange angles depending on the course – A, B, C long, short, the rail, sand or turf etc etc. .
What Lee has said is absolutely right, but it doesn’t stop other judges taking their time and making sure they call the right result. Regardless of the image being available immediately, you still have to study the image (freeze frame or whatever you want to call it) carefully when there are only millimetres seperating the front two, but Smudger is so happy to call it immediately.
We have all stood in betting shops or sat in front of the tv where a freeze frame has been shown to us, yet we remained unsure of who won. I forget the horses and I forget the name of the judge, but didn’t a lady judge give 2 wrong results in the space of a few weeks not so long ago – and no doubt she had access to this immediate technology!
I would say that mistakes will always be made and I for one can forgive anyone for a genuine mistake, but if that mistake is made for the want of ‘living up’ to the reputation of ‘the judge that calls the results fastest’, then I think that is wrong.
All the best,
Mike
To be fair to Holt all he can normally be accused of is being over-zealous (And his course picks never winning!) but in this instance he probably annoyed a lot of people. My horse was nowhere so i’m not speaking from my pocket I just felt he was too keen to blurt out a nice tag line for his call rather than get it right. Thats my criticism – it was a bit sensationalist.
Theres a hell of a diff between a commentator sticking his neck out and the judge!!!!
Theres a hell of a diff between a commentator sticking his neck out and the judge!!!!
Correct.
Only one’s faux pas (the Judge) can affect the result … and sometimes your bank balance.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
Mr Smith called the wrong horse from start to finish in the 7 O’Clock at Windsor he called the horse Pretty Miss instead of One Way Ticket.
After numerous e-mails to ATR booth Alex Hammond (now Alex Quinn) said "Dave Smith’s done a stirling job tonight" to which Mr Smith replied "Don’t think some emailers think so what they dont realise is that the sunshine blocks the view down the straight and its difficult to see which horse is which".
So we now know that it is the sunshine which is to blame not Mr Smith’s incompetence, So don’t slag Mr Smith off when quite clearly it is the sunshine lets start a blame the sunshine thread.
"Dave Smith’s done a stirling job tonight"
I thought he was commentating at Windsor, not in Scotland.
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.
I forget the horses and I forget the name of the judge, but didn’t a lady judge give 2 wrong results in the space of a few weeks not so long ago –
That can only have been "Calamity Jane" Stickels!
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.
On initial viewing I thought that Simon Holt had called it correctly. It was an error of judgement and no more than that,
It must have been one heck of a close call, as it foxed Holt and veeeeeery nearly did John Hunt on Radio Five Live also – I heard his commentary on Saturday afternoon and he only just talked his way out of calling Borderlescott the winner, and declared it too close to call instead, in the dying nanoseconds. In both cases, and given the chaotic climax of a nigh-on 30-runner sprint, I wouldn’t be in any desperate hurry to find fault with either gentleman’s work – it’s hardly the same as calling completely the wrong winner of a four-runner Musselburgh seller, as of course one unfortunate did last summer.
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.
Another classic commentary from Jim McGrath at Ascot on Saturday. He proclaimed Dream Eater the winner from over a furlong out, getting exceedingly excited about it "skipping a couple clear" when anyone with eyes could see that he was joined instantly by the eventual winner and another horse (whose name like Jim, I have forgotten). The other horse he claimed to be Ordinance "And Frankie" when in fact that horse had laboured into the chasing group.
It wasn’t until after the line that he even mentioned the winner’s name! Or the second for that matter.
Genius.
They all make mistakes.
Even the doyen of all racing commentators, Sir Peter O’Sullevan, was not averse to the odd slip.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
and we have some strange angles depending on the course – A, B, C long, short, the rail, sand or turf etc etc. 
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.