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Yes, just finished watching Sedgefield that I’d recorded today. The commentator was excellent – David Fitzgerald. Given his style, he will be even more enjoyable (or the races will) at the track.
No. 1 with a bullet!!!Also the first time I’d seen/heard the young ATR Presenter – Martin Kelly. Breath of fresh air from ATR, and much more eloquent and knowledgeable than the current incumbent.
I noticed that Martin Kelly insisted in calling him "Dave Fitzgerald" today, not David.
I’ve been impressed with Martin Kelly, the ex-Press Association reporter, on At The Races. Very fluent and articulate.
He made a mess-up at Folkestone last week, wrongly identifying the winner and runner-up in a photo-finish. Sean Boyce quietly corrected the mistake without drawing attention to it. Young Kelly very quickly apologised the next time he was on, saying he wished he could find a large hole to jump into. Full marks to him for owning up, instead of quietly brushing it under the carpet, as many would have done.
Speaking of me being sad, I love Gina Bryce’s voice, although I do wish she would hand over to the commentator by name and, in Flat races, not after the runners have left the stalls and already gone half a furlong.
Matt Chapman, of course, does the opposite and brings in the commentator for a cheesy chat far too soon, especially if it is John Hunt, whom he insists on describing as one of the country’s top commentators (he isn’t in my book — one of the most irritating perhaps, though).
I hate it when the on-course female presenters say "Let’s go for the call" instead of saying who it is commentating. I think Zoey Bird may be one of the worse offenders after Gina Bryce. Come to think of it, I think Emily Jones may be as bad (and an aggravating feature in her case is her links to Luke Harvey). I hate to say it but I like Emily’s cute voice. I’ll get my coat…..Martin Kelly seems OK, although it’s not going to be hard to appear eloquent and knowledgable when you compare him to most of the others on that channel.
Speaking of me being sad, I love Gina Bryce’s voice, although I do wish she would hand over to the commentator by name and, in Flat races, not after the runners have left the stalls and already gone half a furlong.
She talks too slowly don’t you think? Very pretty though.
*sighs* Quoting from a previous post has defeated me again. Middle paragraph of my post above belonged to CrustyPatch.
I hate computers.
I’m never too bothered who the commentator is when I go racing. The very idea of leaving the track because of a commentator seems quite ridiculous to me.
Still, each to their own and all that
I’m never too bothered who the commentator is when I go racing. The very idea of leaving the track because of a commentator seems quite ridiculous to me.
You’re quite right, it’s ludicrous but it was just the once when I was an obsessive and mixed-up youth more than 25 years ago.
I did say, tongue-in-cheek, that I would be amazed if anyone turned out to be as sad as me. Jeremy, Paul and Rob have kindly shown me that the symptoms may be catching and that there may yet be hope and salvation for me.
Nowadays, I’m so laid-back that I wouldn’t walk out of a meeting even if the racecourse commentator was Tanya Stevenson. Mind you, I might be tempted to jump off the roof of the grandstand instead — and plunge to my death in the "bedding" ring.
On a more serious note, comments on David Fitzgerald’s performance at Wetherby this afternoon will be welcomed. I may try to watch a couple of races in the betting shop as I don’t have Racing UK.I’m never too bothered who the commentator is when I go racing. The very idea of leaving the track because of a commentator seems quite ridiculous to me.
Depends if you have to be in the same room as them!!!!!
Not the same sport, but I do know of one non-league footbnall nut who travelled from London to Newquay to see Newquay F.C. He turned round at the gate when he was told there wasn’t a programme.
I’ve notched up 1300 football grounds, but I never got quite that sad!
Rob
The Boy David did a very good job at Wetherby again today. Saw the first two races in the betting shop and David Fitzgerald was on good form in those races with the two good things, one of them ridden by AP, who got plenty of mentions, as did the other jockeys.
Heard Alan Howes at Fontwell in one race. He does a good, underrated job and has a similar way of approaching a commentary. His voice is so familiar in betting shops but I’m not sure whether he works for SIS still. There are several of them, including Darrell Williams, who have similar voices. If anyone could confirm who Alan Howes works for, would be grateful. I assume it’s SIS.The Boy David did a very good job at Wetherby again today. Saw the first two races in the betting shop and David Fitzgerald was on good form in those races with the two good things, one of them ridden by AP, who got plenty of mentions, as did the other jockeys.
Heard Alan Howes at Fontwell in one race. He does a good, underrated job and has a similar way of approaching a commentary. His voice is so familiar in betting shops but I’m not sure whether he works for SIS still. There are several of them, including Darrell Williams, who have similar voices. If anyone could confirm who Alan Howes works for, would be grateful. I assume it’s SIS.Crusty.
99% sure I read something recently Alan Howes was employed by SIS. Im not keen on his commentaries and wont watch Fontwell meetings any more as he seems to be there no 1 choice these days. I am impressed with Mr Fitzgeralds commentarys though. To me he is the best addition to the roster for a good few years!!.
Dave
Crusty.
99% sure I read something recently Alan Howes was employed by SIS. Im not keen on his commentaries and wont watch Fontwell meetings any more as he seems to be there no 1 choice these days. I am impressed with Mr Fitzgeralds commentarys though. To me he is the best addition to the roster for a good few years!!.
Dave
Thanks, Dave. I’ve also noticed that Alan Howes has been doing a lot of Fontwell meetings but he did a good job at the other end of the country at Perth earlier in the year. At least he makes the effort to add in a few extra bits of information during his commentaries.
He isn’t due to do Fontwell’s two meetings in December. It’s looking like Simon Holt and Mark Johnson. David Fitzgerald seems to have six days in December, all on the all-weather, including three at Southwell. Won’t get the chance to show much of his flair there. I prefer it when he does jumps meetings.
Alan Howes seems to have been a stalwart of SIS and the betting shops for years, although he is always described as a young commentator.
I know Malcolm Tomlinson is supposed to be first and foremost an actor but I don’t know when he gets the time to tread the boards. If he’s not commentating at a northern racecourse, he seems to pop up doing off-tube commentaries for betting shops. I often seem to hear him in other betting shops doing the greyhound racing commentaries and general voiceover presenting, so he must be employed by those bookmakers, rather than just the Leeds-based off-tube commentary service company.
Haven’t heard him as a presenter on the William Hill betting shop service for a while so not sure whether he still does that. He used to do so in the days when the late Doug Fraser worked there. The diminutive Darren Owen still does. Saw him this week.
Malcolm Tomlinson can’t get many long-running acting jobs if he has all these racing commitments. I remember reading that he has played Dot Cotton’s solicitor in EastEnders. His young Beverley-based actress daughter, Eleanor Tomlinson, is known for starring in the teenage film Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. No, it doesn’t mean anything to me either.
Thongs certainly ain’t what they used to be.Malcolms acting roles seem to be bit parts. He has popped up in regional based programmes like Byker Grove here in Newcastle and The Royal based in the Whitby area. I did read Malcolm was employed by Blue to Green who provide the telephone based commentaries. I wasnt aware he worked for WH radio. I know Darren Owen fronts some of their outputs along with Mark Slater and Niall Hannity.
Infact I have just went on their website. Is there any reason they dont use the course commentary?
Don’t know, to be honest, Dave.
But contrast David Fitzgerald’s detailed and interesting commentaries at Sedgefield and Wetherby this week with the appalling effort of John Hunt in a three-horse race at Doncaster today. A bigger contrast could not be imagined.
Hunt managed to sound totally fed-up, made very little effort and his couldn’t-be-bothered attitude, just mentioning the names of the three runners most of the time, with long Graham Goode-style pauses, was infuriating to hear.
He doesn’t seem to make any real effort for his course commentary duties. He obviously thinks they are beneath his contempt. He does a good job on the radio at the big meetings like Cheltenham, when reverting to bellowing and screaming the runners home near the finish, but switches to minimum service when doing the bread-and-butter meetings.
I know the requirement for course commentaries is different and it is for a different audience. Nobody wants screaming and shouting Cheltenham Festival-style commentaries in minor three-horse races, but surely he can make a bit more effort to inject a bit more interesting detail and colour for the long-suffering racegoers and At The Races viewers.
The contrast with David Fitzgerald, who made the effort to sprinkle in bits of interesting information in bigger fields than this, is quite stark. Other contributors to the forum seem to be impressed with David as well.
Hunt is probably basking in the glory of Matt Chapman constantly describing him as one of the country’s top commentators or the knowledge that, if he has got the top radio job, he doesn’t really have to bother himself with the minor meetings. Good job some of the other commentators don’t have the same complacency.
Hunt has got years of experience. Fitzgerald is just starting out this year on the "proper" commentary rota. I know which one of the two I prefer.Infact I have just went on their website. Is there any reason they dont use the course commentary?
I’m not sure myself, alas, but maybe it’s some sort of symbiotic local relationship – Blue To Green, Independent Commentary Services and William Hill Radio are all based up here in Leeds.
Blue To Green also supplied the hardware and phone lines for the Point-to-Point Racing Company’s
Talking Point
telephone information / preview service before it was brought in-house ahead of this season.
ICS, meanwhile, were the commentary providers for Timeform Radio for the first eighteen, Betfair-badged months of its existence (up to August 2008). Most of their number call or have called at Points in addition to that (and, where applicable, Rules) work. Gareth Topham has around a dozen regular Pointing gigs (including the final "classic" of the season, the Lady Dudley Cup at Chaddesley Corbett); Steven Powell can be heard at Northern venues such as Tranwell, Balcormo Mains and Overton; Neville Ender is still the caller of choice at Mordon (John Wade’s track); and Youtube footage exists of the late Doug Fraser on Easter Saturday commentary duty at Hornby Castle.
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.
Youtube footage exists of the late Doug Fraser on Easter Saturday commentary duty at Hornby Castle.
Interesting. For several years, Doug Fraser did the course commentary at the Easter Saturday jumps meeting at Carlisle, where at least one race was shown by Channel 4. He was thus heard on Channel 4 on at least one occasion.
Graham Goode and Stewart Machin later did that meeting, also therefore being heard on Channel 4. That’s the good thing about Channel 4. You occasionally see and hear races from the smaller tracks. Kelso and Catterick were included on the Channel 4 coverage the day the BBC had the big day at Ascot in October.
A commentator I came across at Brocklesby Park point-to-point, in Lincolnshire, many years ago was Geoff Pacey. He lived in Wragby, Lincolnshire, and I was interested to see him mentioned in a Directory of the Turf list of commentators quite a few years afterwards. He had a big, Pinnochio-style pointy nose and used to pop up at Market Rasen meetings as a spectator.
The commentator at Brocklesby Park had the luxurious commentary position of standing on a trailer on the edge of the course.Dave Monk wrote: "Malcolm’s acting roles seem to be bit parts. He has popped up in regional based programmes like Byker Grove here in Newcastle."
Malcolm Tomlinson might be an actor by trade but he certainly hadn’t read the script when doing his course commentator duties at Newcastle today.
His course commentaries were taken by Channel 4 but Tomlinson messed up right at the very beginning when Tommo tried to hand over to him in typically over-the-top style before the first TV race at Newcastle.
Tommo gave him the big build-up, only for Tomlinson to say: "Thanks, Gordie" — a reference to At The Races presenter Gordon Brown. Doh! Great co-ordination.
It certainly gave the lie to Channel 4’s continued attempts to hoodwink the viewers into thinking that the course commentator is actually their own dedicated TV commentator, rather than having to share him with At The Races (on this occasion) and the course. We don’t mind that it’s the course commentary, because of the financial savings that Channel 4 has been forced to make, but at least don’t try to pretend that it isn’t. Tomlinson let the cat out of the bag for viewers who didn’t realise.
If actor Tomlinson can’t even recognise Tommo’s voice from that of Scotsman Gordon Brown, assuming he actually heard Tommo’s link to him, perhaps he should stick to Byker Grove when he is at Newcastle. His "bit part" on Channel 4 (the station hardly ever takes his commentaries) didn’t get off to a good start.
At least Channel 4 did have its own commentator in Simon Holt at Newbury.If actor Tomlinson can’t even recognise Tommo’s voice from that of Scotsman Gordon Brown, assuming he actually heard Tommo’s link to him, perhaps he should stick to Byker Grove when he is at Newcastle. His "bit part" on Channel 4 (the station hardly ever takes his commentaries) didn’t get off to a good start.
At least Channel 4 did have its own commentator in Simon Holt at Newbury.Malcolm would not have heard the C4 feed – so the fault is Tommo’s for attempting the "clever" link, perhaps he forot he was not on ATR.
He would have had the ATR feed through his headphones, hence the hand-off from Gordon Brown – just bad timing the C4 handover coincided with ATR’s.
People may also not realise that whilst they are calling the race they also have the distraction of hearing the talkback from the scanner van, which must be distracting when there is a big field to call.
Additionally if the race is being shown "split screen" and they are on the non-commentary race they can also hear the commentary of the other race.
Regarding using Simon at Newbury that did seem a bit perverse as Richard was the course commentator and one of the C4 team, although I still do not see the need to have a dedicated C4 commentator – the only difference it seems to make it the ability to find out what the "expert" thinks mid-race, a practice I hate with a vengeance.
If actor Tomlinson can’t even recognise Tommo’s voice from that of Scotsman Gordon Brown, assuming he actually heard Tommo’s link to him, perhaps he should stick to Byker Grove when he is at Newcastle. His "bit part" on Channel 4 (the station hardly ever takes his commentaries) didn’t get off to a good start.
At least Channel 4 did have its own commentator in Simon Holt at Newbury.Malcolm would not have heard the C4 feed – so the fault is Tommo’s for attempting the "clever" link, perhaps he forgot he was not on ATR.
He would have had the ATR feed through his headphones, hence the hand-off from Gordon Brown – just bad timing the C4 handover coincided with ATR’s.
Regarding using Simon at Newbury that did seem a bit perverse as Richard was the course commentator and one of the C4 team, although I still do not see the need to have a dedicated C4 commentator – the only difference it seems to make it the ability to find out what the "expert" thinks mid-race, a practice I hate with a vengeance.Paul
Completely agree with you as usual. Interesting that Malcolm Tomlinson would not have heard the attempted Channel 4 so-called personal handover from Tommo. It really is a joke and has back-fired before. No doubt if things had been co-ordinated properly by those involved, Tomlinson could, with a bit of skill and good timing, have thanked both "Gordie" and Tommo at suitable points.
I’m still trying to place Tomlinson’s accent. His style is clearly heavily modelled on Aussie Jim McGrath’s in both pace of delivery and use of many of the same phrases but I’m blowed if I can work out what his accent is. It sounds like a bad impression of Jim McGrath to me.
I agree with you about the irritating and totally pointless interposing of in-running comments from experts during the running of races. Francome doesn’t do a bad job and Mick Fitzgerald is the master of it, always managing to find the right words and delivering them fluently, but it adds nothing to the viewer’s enjoyment. Rather, it is a total waste of time. The viewer just wants to know the order of the runners. As often as not, especially in jumps races at Newbury, the babbling expert is thrown completely when one of the runners falls and the commentator hastily has to identify it to him and pick up the pieces.
At least today’s interjection in the big race wasn’t anything like as excruciating as that of the infamous shoulder race at Royal Ascot when race commentator Ian Bartlett kept bringing in the bumbling and waffling Willie Carson, as if the whole commentary was a conversation between them (Bartlett finally had to say "Shut up, Willie"). That was a new and unsurpassed low.
Channel 4 did once interrupt a course commentary at Wetherby on Charlie Hall Chase day a couple of years ago to have one of its TV experts give comments in running. Commentator Stewart Machin had clearly been told to pause at a certain moment just after the runners had passed the post so that, I think, Francome could quickly chip in and say his bit. Machin didn’t bring him in by name, of course, as he was still doing the course commentary (you could hear him in the background while Francome was waffling) but he clearly got a signal from someone or something when Francome had finished and resumed the race commentary virtually seamlessly.
I suppose Channel 4 deserve credit for having their own commentator for the biggest meetings. It certainly makes a difference. But, as you say, Richard Hoiles was there anyway, no doubt because he is at the top of the pecking order, with a few others, for course commentary duties at the big meetings.
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