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My thoughts
AP too Jp centric
Harvey ok but light weight, not tipping many winners
Fitz adds no value
Chapman wasted in betting rings which are largely irrelevant in the modern age
Rishi, plunkett, just not incisive enough. They need to focus on people who have something to say rather than known personalities – people like Kevin Blake, ted Walsh, chapman In a more prominent role
Ed C always seems edgy and keen to prioritise what’s coming through his earpiece. I know the running order is important as to who gets cut to and when, but they ought to give Chamberlin more scope to take a decision about staying with an interesting discussion if he chooses to.
All in all, they seem a bunch of individuals who are not that well drilled to work together and there’s little sense of them being a team in the way the CH4 folk were.
Have to agree with this – it is quite noticeable that Ed will interrupt somebody to do/ go somewhere else. And its happened quite often. I can understand why they do it – but they need to give Ed a bit more leeway with the ‘script’.
I still think they need to gel as a team – if I were giving them marks, they’d probably be a C+
The B-Team is evidently on duty today in all respects.
Awful race coverage by ITV at Uttoxeter today. Using the moving camera down the home straight was a big mistake, impossible to see what’s happening behind the leaders.
ATR’s picture quality isn’t great, but at least you can see how the race is developing.
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
Though I agree with a few of you and mainly Ginger, in that the coverage seems a bit dumbed down, this is almost certainly what they wanted. I have a mate who doesn’t watch the sport but this week has been watching nearly all the ITV coverage of Cheltenham, he really likes Matt Chapman and AP, also says Ed C is a good front man. ITV aren’t trying to please the hardened racing fan as they know we’re probably watching ATR/RUK or want to do all the studying ourselves and so don’t need a face on the tv to tell us what to bet on. The coverage is geared towards average Joe and for that they need recognisable/entertaining faces to draw the people in, average Joe has no idea whether what AP says is great insightful knowledge or something that any of us could have told them, but they’ll assume it’s great insightful knowledge and in turn listen more and pay attention – this is what ITV want. Can’t hold this against them at all and for their first year covering Cheltenham I though they did a really good job, obviously not perfect but they’re still finding their feet.
And a commentator that is so annoying you can’t have the volume on during the race.
On the subject of commentators, it was interesting to hear Hoiles say that he’d spent all night learning the correct pronunciation of Anseanachai Cliste yesterday mere minutes after mispronouncing the relatively simple “Mai”, a word I know he would have learnt in French lessons at school, all the way through the Gold Cup.
Given that so many top jumps performers are bred on the other side of the Channel these days, one would have thought that both British and Irish commentators would have at least tried to improve their abysmal pronunciation of French names.
Couldn’t care less how a commentator pronounces a horses name, in fact it makes me chuckle when each commentator pronounces a horses name differently – like they all put their own little spin on it. Adds to the entertainment for me!
Like hearing football commentators say Eden Hazard – some say “Eyen Yazyar!” others “Eden Azar”, some even say it properly….it’s all part of the fun!
Adds to the entertainment for me!
Each to their own; to me, it signifies indolence and/or ignorance.
It was nice seeing the presenters out in the open near the parade ring at Uttoxeter today; it’s where people like Clare Balding and Richard Pitman used to stand back in the day. And they really make a point of updating people on the wellbeing of fallen horses, even when the news isn’t good.
I’m not one to obsesss about these things but will say that it is the showcase for the sport and the figures last week were impressive compared with c4. Overall I think the coverage is pretty decent and strikes a good balance. There is a nice buzz to it
High time they learnt that racing is about horses and jockeys, not who they consider slebs.
The Opening Show was desperately dull yesterday. I’ve no idea why ITV think having people like Lee Mottershead or Bruce Millington on will add anything at all. At least choose someone with wit or style if they need some journalistic element to the show. Rishi was a dead loss and clearly had not been paying any attention to what Sally Ann Grassick had been talking to her interviewees at Uttoxeter about.
Broadly the Cheltenham coverage was ok if not really to my taste. I’ll be happy enough if they continue to cover racing anyway.
Richi Persad is an interesting study. Does anyone remember him being schooled to learn to ride? I found it hard to believe since I had read he was at one time an aspiring jockey and came from a horsey family. Was this yet more TV bullshine?
Just rewatched the whole 4 days [having finally got catchup tv working] and thoroughly enjoyed it all….
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