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Lydia:<br>First, apologies for the delay in replying and also for the fact it‘s going to be a staggered response. I’ve had a busy schedule and also a heavy cold in the past few days. Second, thank you very much for taking the trouble to ask such stimulating questions. I hope the answers, some of which are probably overly long, do them justice.
— Posted by zilzal
Thanks for obliging, Lydia.
If you were not involved in racing journalism, what other career do you think you would have eventually followed ? I don’t wish to flatter but I sometimes think I detect a dormant legal brain at work in your Times articles !<br><br>It’s comforting to know you’ve detected some sort of logic to what I write. You’re right. I did consider doing law instead of English at university but, given my room overlooked the law library with lights burning at all hours, I was often glad I didn’t. A law conversion course was the fallback option if racing journalism hadn’t worked out. It could still be the plan B if the rug is ever pulled from under my feet…
<br>— Posted by thedarkknight
Thanks for taking the time….
You have shown yourself to be one of a very select group of Racing Journalists that has been prepared to criticise those within the sport, in particular jockeys, and for that you are to be applauded.
However, this has led rather predictably to a different reaction within Racing’s "inner circle" and there has been some negative reaction to you from some Racing professionals (with rumours of jockeys refusing to be interviewed by you etc…)
To what extent do you get frustrated by some of the craven sycophants within the Racing press who have created this ridiculous situation through their years of brown-nosing all and sundry within the industry?
Will you continue to ask hard-hitting questions and provide criticism where you feel it is merited, or have you to a certain extent become disillusioned by the "cosy" relationship the sport seems to expect from the media?<br><br>You’ve hit the main frustration of the job square on the head. In Timeform’s Chasers & Hurdlers 2004/05, the essay on Harchibald observes: “The close co-operation between trainers and jockeys and those who work on the racecourse for the media has some obvious advantages for both groups, and for racing generally, but it does sometimes lead to the stifling of criticism. Unfortunately, in such a close-knit world, there is always a danger that an over-critical reporter could find himself denied access to some of the people who provide him with the interviews and information upon which he relies for his livelihood.â€ÂÂ
Thank you Lydia!!!! And cheers Daylight for taking the time to do this for us!!! Big respect to you!!!
By far one of the most articulate and interesting Q&As on the forum so far.
Thanks to DL and Lydia! Enjoyed reading that.
Lydia will be replying to the remaining questions as soon as she can, but with the detail shown so far you can fully understand why she cannot do all the answers in one reply.
Thanks for your very full and interesting answers Lydia.
I might even forgive you for saying that Divine Proportions was better than Soviet Song!:biggrin:
Thank you Daylight and Lydia. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all that and am glad Lydia stuck up for Rishi. Being a minority and having a happy demeanor doesn’t make a person any less knowledgeable.
- Total Posts 438
Quote: from naps on 11:18 pm on Mar. 7, 2006[br]Being a minority and having a happy demeanor doesn’t make a person any less knowledgeable.
<br>True. However, knowing **** all does.
You can’t ‘play’ racing as a kid or with friends on a Sunday like you can with football and cricket. The only way we can take an active role is to watch it, read and listen to information on it, talk about it and bet on it to see whether or not our views hold water. I often feel that racing professionals fail to give this due weight…
The silly partisanship we Europeans indulge in is also quite amusing. Suddenly, the French are our close allies – they did after all prop up “ourâ€ÂÂ
Quote: from naps on 11:18 pm on Mar. 7, 2006[br]Thank you Daylight and Lydia. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all that and am glad Lydia stuck up for Rishi. Being a minority and having a happy demeanor doesn’t make a person any less knowledgeable.<br>
Fascinating answers! Thank you very much DL and Lydia for doing that for us, and I have to agree with naps and Lydia. I’ve never criticised Rishi because I think there’s a lot worse out there. His job on TV isn’t deep analysis; he leaves that to the professionals. It’s to interview and talk to the connections, and to me, he does that pretty well. I’d far rather have him interviewing than Thommo, Luke Harvey or Mac! He can at least string two sentences together.
Many thanks to Lydia for this ~ probably the best we’ve seen so far in this Q&A section and a slap in the face for those who believe she’s arrogant or out of touch with ordinary racing fans. I’m just kicking myself that I couldn’t muster a half decent question. D’oh!
It was ok..but pretty much the sort of stuff Thommo, Plunkett and Graham comes out with I thought :(
WTF…did i write that?
No..it was excellent. A real breath of fresh air…confirms again why she is my fav presenter
Keep up the good work Lydia
Lydia, forget Plan B – for 2 reasons:
1) Racing is far more interesting
2) These days you need to be a salesperson to make it in your alternative. Practising is becoming a smaller and smaller part of the job – the new buzzword is networking. Not very stimulating!!
First of all, I have a pretty neutral opinion on Rishi P. – in fact, his attempts to get Fallon for an interview on Arc day and inadvertently being in the photos were hilarious.
But … why in this age aren’t people allowed to criticise "minorities"? Who said anyone’s opinions of Rishi were down to his race? FFS.<br>
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