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I wonder if he ever did spot the mistake or is it possible the information could have been fed through to him? It was a shocking mistake but I think the level of criticism has something do with how he comes across as an individual. Aside from the ‘ladies man’ appeal I am not sure that he adds anything to the increasingly ‘lightweight’ Channel 4 team.
Probably, his refusal to acknowledge that mistake has upset more people than the fact that he made the mistake.
Arrogant?, cowardly?, definitely unforgivable.
Colin
Do we know for sure if he apologised or not?
He may well have apologised on course, which is where he was being employed to call.
He did not really have time to apologise during the call itself and generally the TV coverage of the call is usually cut off before the on course call is complete.
He supports the mighty Derby County so i can’t be too scathing!
However, it was an awful mistake mixing Mick Fitzgerald up with an inexperienced amateur on a 150/1 shot. We all make mistakes but it was a pretty shocking one.
I tell you what, if it was Tommo a hell of a lot more people on here and elsewhere would have been up in arms about it and calling for him to be sacked. Though because it’s ‘Mike the Cat’ he only gets "Mistakes do happen"
Wrong. Thompson has in fact made this mistake himself on more than one occasion in the past without "people on here…calling for him to be sacked."
I was at Newbury yesterday, but didn’t see the race as we were getting Swordsman ready. However, I was listening to the commentary over the tannoy, and I kept thinking ‘Levantine?? That’s about 200-1!!’. Than all of a sudden, Khyber Kim gets a mention and is suddently in the lead. I assumed that Levantine had run a massive race and had folded up in the closing stages, but when I went to the grandstand to watch the Challow Hurdle, I heard a couple of people say ‘Let’s hope the commentator doesn’t **** this one up’!!
I viedoed the racing, and have seen the 2.05 since. It wouldn’t have been so bad, but the colours of the caps are totally different!! Also, I thought Levantines colours were more like Helens Vision than Khyber Kims. Mind you, I do have sympathy with Mike Cattermole as I have commentated on some races back in Germany, and I don’t mind saying I once called the wrong horse. My excuse it was that it was Neuss, foggy, floodlights, all weather kickback etc – but I did apologise for calling the wrong horse!!
Darren – Anglo German
Whenever a commentator makes a cock up, the usual stance from the trading post in the Racing Post is to have a pop at punters, so no surprise this morning. Did all the complaints emanate from in running punters? I would suspect only a small minority did.Think there’s no reason why punters shouldn’t be dependent to a certain extent on commentators, after all they have only 6 or 7 races to cover while in running punters have 40 odd races.
Think if Cattermole had put the work in he wouldn’t have made the mistake. I’ve often seen him swanning around the parade ring and weighing room when he should be memorising his colours etc. Lets hope he puts a bit more work in in the future and avoids a repitition. The thing is it’s far from his first error but he still gets the big meetings.
When doing the form the night before the race one Newbury racecourse bookie reportedly had £15 at 1000 about Levantine, thinking it was over-priced. Wasn’t at the track myself but can imagine the look on his face as the £15k he thought he’d won disappeared as Levantine morphed into Kyber Kim on the run-in.
while in running punters have 40 odd races.
I would suggest that any in-running punter who plays in 40 races a day falls into the mug-punter category.
Paul, I am reliably informed, by someone who was on course, that Cattermole made no apology to the patrons of Newbury.
Colin
Paul, I am reliably informed, by someone who was on course, that Cattermole made no apology to the patrons of Newbury.
Colin
In which case that is very unfortunate and he deserves to be criticised for that.
As you said an apology would have gone a long way towards easing the situation.
even allowing for the mud splattered colours and the melee that decimated the field, have a look at RED MARUADERS national win on you tube. i had backed it at 40/1 and 33/1 and despite lying in the first 6 throughout never got mentioned till there were only 5 or 6 left. its funny now but i was screaming at the telly…………….THERE IT IS YOU BLIND *** / ITS IN THIRD PLACE…it wasnt just one commentator either they all joined in,chipmunk
while in running punters have 40 odd races.
I would suggest that any in-running punter who plays in 40 races a day falls into the mug-punter category.
Why would you suggest that?
I assume that when someone calls a race they have to use binoculars. On occasions when horses havn’t been mentioned until the last minute, and I’ve been screaming at the television screen, I’ve realised that I’m actually getting a much better overall view of the race and the commentator has, in fact, quite a limited vision. I know it’s no excuse for being un professional [ok I’m a Derby County supporter too, we have to stick together y’know], but maybe we all aught to try doing a commentary using binoculars and see how difficult it is….
I assume that when someone calls a race they have to use binoculars. On occasions when horses havn’t been mentioned until the last minute, and I’ve been screaming at the television screen, I’ve realised that I’m actually getting a much better overall view of the race and the commentator has, in fact, quite a limited vision. I know it’s no excuse for being un professional [ok I’m a Derby County supporter too, we have to stick together y’know], but maybe we all aught to try doing a commentary using binoculars and see how difficult it is….
Individual commentators have different preferences. Some call entirely from the monitor, others use bins as much as possible. The majority use a combination of both depending on the course.
Surprisingly, at some courses the view from the commentary box can actually be worse than the view the punters get in the stands – in those cases the commentator is totally at the mercy of the TV monitor.
while in running punters have 40 odd races.
I would suggest that any in-running punter who plays in 40 races a day falls into the mug-punter category.
Why would you suggest that?
Because it is not possible to study the running styles of all the horses in 40 different races.
I would say the same of punters who bet in a large number of races each day.
Punters who make a consistent profit are those who concentrate on a couple of races a day and then only bet when the circumstances are right. Which may mean having to wait weeks between bets.
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