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As a pundit the acid test is surely does he pick winners, unambiguously and before the race, better than following the favourite or Spotlight? Let’s wait and see; if he is good at picking the winners I say he can be as smug as he wishes!
I’m going to run and hide after saying this but I hope Clare does a Liam with him and gets his teeth done. Everyone in the media these days needs a perfect set of gnashers. It’s been bothering me and, there, I’ve said it now. [yes I know it’s trivial and petty and I apologise profusely].
As a pundit the acid test is surely does he pick winners, unambiguously and before the race, better than following the favourite or Spotlight? Let’s wait and see; if he is good at picking the winners I say he can be as smug as he wishes!
Not for me. I have no interest in whether he can ‘pick winners’ or not (do people really sit at home waiting for some C4 presenter to tell them what to back??).
I’m far more interested in hearing him ‘set the scene’ for the race in general terms.
Mike
GC is a nice fella and a fine addition to the CH4 team imo. He might need to be a wee bit careful as his quick talk style and naturally combative nature will, at some point, lead him to say something that’s ‘not PC’.
I think Clare Balding has two choices with him – up her game on the fine detail front (I very much doubt she has the time for that), or defer to him from the outset, something she might find hard to do given that she sees this as her specialist sport.
There might be blood
Knows his stuff and a definite up-shift for the programme in terms of technical analysis. He seemed to have a lot of air-time I thought. Agree though that having both him and McGrath seems unecessary, one agreeing with the other and both, essentially, offering the same thing. For all Francome’s lack of form knowledge he had a lot of ‘horse’ knowledge and insider insight which neither McGrath or Cunningham are likely to match.
Whether the viewing public will warm to Cunningham’s style and whether technical analysis of this type is what the Ch 4 viewing public are after in what is, to quite a large extent, an entertainment programme, remains to be seen.
As for the more general outlook, Nick Luck is several classes apart from anything else on offer and racing will do well to hold onto him. I think he’s a better, more natural broadcaster than Balding and if I were pulling the purse-strings at Ch 4 racing I’d have gone all-in on Luck and saved the dosh on the presumably more expensive Balding.
I’m quite pleased with his acquisition, he has always come across very unbiased in his assessment of a horses chance rather than some of the others who don’t think anyone other than Nicholls or Henderson can train a horse to win anything of note.
I think he’ll really come into his own for the ‘Saturday punter’ for want of a better phrase in the lead up to Cheltenham as he seems to value Irish form as much as the English, i couldn’t get over the 2011 festival when Channel 4’s ‘professionals’ were discussing the Champion hurdle barely any of them gave even half a chance to Hurricane fly despite most of the wider racing world knowing he was a talent
He seems OK although I personally not that bothered about any of them I’m really not interested in their comments. The big no no for me is Richie Persad What a useless light weight interviewer he is been hovering about for some time now and not improved one jot.I think the BBC didn’t know what to do with him so quite a coup to unload him on Channel 4
It is likely that the Cheshire Cat
( aka Rishi Persad >
) may have been brought along at the behest of Miz Balding.Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
why, is the lesbian thing a front? or is richi secretly female? I imagine he has big moobs, at least
As a pundit the acid test is surely does he pick winners, unambiguously and before the race, better than following the favourite or Spotlight? Let’s wait and see; if he is good at picking the winners I say he can be as smug as he wishes!
Not for me. I have no interest in whether he can ‘pick winners’ or not (do people really sit at home waiting for some C4 presenter to tell them what to back??).
I’m far more interested in hearing him ‘set the scene’ for the race in general terms.
Mike
Exactly Mike,
From what I’ve seen on RUK Cunningham knows the make up of a race. Who’s likely to lead, will it be a soft lead or contested, who races mid-div or held up, above all who the likely pace is going to suit. Knows the form book, soft or firm ground horses and how stamina/speed will come in to it…Francome has limited knowledge of all the above, so there was little point Jim asking difficult form questions. In my opinion Francs should’ve been used as the jockeys-eye view, not a foil to a form expert. May be (at the moment) he’d still be better than Fitz, but latter has potential.
With two form students – yes McGrath and Cunningham will agree sometimes but by no means every time. He also tips "value", so should not be judged on how many "winners picked" Aji. Sure to go against the one with the best chance of winning if thought poor value.
Value Is EverythingEarly days yet but so far can’t stand to see GC or listen to him!! I much preferred John Francome, who gave a lot of good outsiders to look at as well as an expert paddock analysis. Mr ‘Timeform’ McGrath still as annoying as ever and don’t start me on Gina Bryce!
don’t start me on Gina Bryce!
Don’t start
me
on Gina Bryce either.
I loved her smile and her dimples. What a little darling.
She was very under-used at Chepstow. Just one interview before the Welsh National with Rebecca Curtis and then one afterwards with Michael Scudamore and the co-owner of Monbeg Dude, James Simpson-Daniel.
Gina did a good job though, I thought, and I was surprised she didn’t link to more of the action at Chepstow, as she was there, instead of it being done by Nick Luck from Sandown.
She was sadly nowhere to be seen before or after the first Chepstow race. Why Nick called her "our very own Gina Bryce", after such brief first appearances, I don’t know.
Michael Scudamore is certainly a chip off the old block. I nearly thought it was Peter Scudamore at first when he appeared. Certainly no doubting who sired him.
If he had to live off his own selections he would go skint in a month.
When he is discussing a Horse he knows its Form, Class, Timeform Rating, Collateral Form Lines, OR Rating, what it had for breakfast and if it cleaned it’s teeth.
But he still can’t pinpoint enough winners at value prices because he, like most of these so called experts, are so busy delving deep into the form lines and trying to give valid reasons for their emotional selections, they miss the most obvious fact of all.
Did it win easily last time out. Is the trip and ground OK? Good…then let the TRAINER decide where to place the horse. He knows the horse better than me, you or Graham Cunningham.
Look …I HAVE to make money from betting. Last year my ROI was 29% and my strike rate was 27% and I had 10 winning months out of 12.
You will be amazed at the value prices you can get. I don’t bet less than 9/4 as I have found I can’t make money betting short…but you might be able to.
Do your own thing. You will have more success than listening to those so called experts…none of which earn their living by betting.
Saturday: Sandown LORD OF THE HOUSE hacked up at 12/1. Have a look at it’s last race where it hacked up on similar ground at the same trip. The trainer booked a great apprentice and it ran with 10-4 at the bottom of the Handicap. Not one of your experts even mentioned it. Good! better price for me.
Today at Plumpton..De Blacksmith w 9/2 …only just this time but had won easy previously. "He’s carrying a penalty …can’t win with that!…Oh really?
Anyway that’s my rant out of the way.
good luck
If he had to live off his own selections he would go skint in a month.
When he is discussing a Horse he knows its Form, Class, Timeform Rating, Collateral Form Lines, OR Rating, what it had for breakfast and if it cleaned it’s teeth.
But he still can’t pinpoint enough winners at value prices because he, like most of these so called experts, are so busy delving deep into the form lines and trying to give valid reasons for their emotional selections, they miss the most obvious fact of all.
No. The reason no TV presenter will ever make long-term profits is because they don’t have the time to analyse properly as they already have a full-time occupation (see my response earlier as to why I believe tipping winners is irrelevant for pundits). Furthermore, they don’t get to choose the races they tip on.
Despite this, GC knows more than most punters and vastly more than most racing presenters.
Mike
Saturday: Sandown LORD OF THE HOUSE hacked up at 12/1. Have a look at it’s last race where it hacked up on similar ground at the same trip. The trainer booked a great apprentice and it ran with 10-4 at the bottom of the Handicap. Not one of your experts even mentioned it. Good! better price for me.
Today at Plumpton..De Blacksmith w 9/2 …only just this time but had won easy previously. "He’s carrying a penalty …can’t win with that!…Oh really?
Yeah, SATURDAY: Monbeg Dude w 10-1 then Loyalty w 12-1 and Putin w 10-1. What a day!!
Then SUNDAY: Romney Marsh w 12-1 and Beneficial Spirit w 10-1. What a weekend!!!*
Mike
*Note: I didn’t back any of these, I’m just reading the prices out really…
Agree though that having both him and McGrath seems unecessary, one agreeing with the other and both, essentially, offering the same thing. For all Francome’s lack of form knowledge he had a lot of ‘horse’ knowledge and insider insight which neither McGrath or Cunningham are likely to match.
There is a danger that chummy mutual respect ( they’re both ex-Timeform) may result in too many ‘I agree Jim/Graham’ lines but that apart I would welcome the exchanges of two ‘form experts’ as, as we all know, in any one race one ‘value’ analyst’s overlay may be another’s underlay
It’s opinion at variance with mine I find interesting not what they’re tipping, so it’s to be hoped that the pairing are prepared to engage in robust disagreement from time to time rather than defer to obsequious agreement all the time
It should also be pointed out that both McGrath and Cunningham are capable paddock watchers; the former by calling as he admitted long ago it was an important facet of his betting strategy, and the latter through his 10-year role as a Timeform on-course reporter
So there’s no need to employ an ex-jockey (the fewer of them on the box the better) to watch the nags, just simply send one of M or C paddock-side, or preferably pre-paddock-side while the horses are still starkers
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