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He could have diffused the situation slightly by just replying that he felt a lot better for winning such a good race, but he always tends to answer questions with a question. As I said, I’m still disgusted with the way the interview was conducted, partly because just before the question had been asked, alarm bells had started to go off in my head as I noticed that Mr Cecil had lost an awful lot of weight since the last time I saw him.I also found it very poignant that the horse was called Father Time, but then realised that his other good horse this year is Midday…is there a connection with the two horses other than the Cheveley Park one?
Respectfully Moe, the issue of how Henry C "should" have answered the question is irrelevant.
The particular subject of an individual’s health should not have been raised in an imprompto live television interview ………… especially when visual proof of discomfort and illness is plainly evident to all..I actually thought the Ascot programme was a little better than recent efforts. Some cringy bits for sure, but not as hard to watch as the past few years. I actually like listening to Carson, remember he is a jockey and breeder not a professional presenter, and I find some of the things he says interesting.
Remember Ritchie may not script his own questions, he may have some knob of a producer telling him what to say in his ear.
I think it is aimed squarely at the casual weekday afternoon viewer not the enthusiast, so I wonder does it work. How are the viewing figures compared to other BBC afternoon fare, how do they compere to Channel4 racing on a big Saturday like the Eclipse or Guineas? I don’t know how to find out, anyone know?
The big deal with the BBC is I am forced to pay for it and I don’t think I get much out of it, and I suspect many people feel the same. For me, Radio 4 in the car, the news channel, a few series like Top Gear and Heroes and that’s usually all I get for my license fee. I see them spending a lot of money on complete dross and feel that the occasional programme I am interested in like the racing coverage should be brilliant, given the base product they have to work with, and it clearly is short of that. So the tendancy is to be disappointed; but look at it as light entertainment for the masses and maybe it works? I don’t know?
Rishi is totally unsuited to doing the "big" interviews.
He seems to be totally overawed when speaking to such as Henry Cecil, Michael Stoute, Sheikh Mo and the Coolmore team.
He’s not quite as bad when talking to a colleague or a lower profile trainer or jockey.
How he got the job in the first place? He’s quite young, attractive and smiles a lot. He certainly would not have got the job based on his racing knowledge or unflappable camera presence.The BBC let Lydia get away and retained Rishi?
At least C4 don’t let "eye-candy" Emma near a big story.
Folks I agree , Lydia would be en exceptional asset to the beeb for racing coverage , she has sense and sensitivity , watching Rishi , and the 2 betting Bozos made me cringe , God it was bad , and very bad at that
Hey BBC dont bother covering racing if thats your best shot , because to be honest it was shameful
cheers
Ricky
The BBC let Lydia get away and retained Rishi?
Did BBC let her go or did she want to go? I am guessing she didn’t want to play second fiddle to someone who wasn’t as good.
The BBC let Lydia get away and retained Rishi?
Did BBC let her go or did she want to go? I am guessing she didn’t want to play second fiddle to someone who wasn’t as good.
To the best of my knowledge, she left as she felt that she was being underutilised. I’m staggered that the Beeb let this happen and hope that she finds her way back onto national TV one day in a capacity that her great talents deserve.
I was irritated by the BBC’s coverage. Especially that the horses were not shown properly before the races; I especially wanted to see the colts before the King Edward VII stakes, as this is a good pointer to later races. It was so annoying that they were in the paddock talking about the horses & all we the viewers, got to see were the commentators faces.
There are people for whom the fashion, interviews etc are important, but there must be a balance. I wonder what cricket & football enthusiasts would feel like if their sports were presented in such a dumbed down manner.
I do not think this "all things to all men" approach is going to attract a bigger TV audience to racing; one thing is sure it will alienate the true enthusiasts.How embarrassingly bad was Willie Carson’s analysis of the stewards enquiries on Saturday, he just hadn’t a clue about the rules or even what interference actually occurred during the races.
He was also fairly sure the fillies mile winner would start next season in the Pretty Polly
How has he managed to keep that pundits job for so long?I think he
eventually
got to the real issue of whether a horse had improved its placing through the interference but crikey, it was the ten minutes of umming and ahhhhing beforehand that drove me mad. When asked about the different rules in various countries he was equally inarticulate. Apparently there are specific rules for
‘England’
as well.. remind me where you were born again, Willie?
Agree with you about Carson not appearing to notice where interference had occurred. It was as though he was looking at a different video replay or picking up on pieces of action which were irrelevant. There are still areas of the game which Carson has a sound knowledge of (breeding and horses’ behaviour etc), but as a communicator/broadcaster he is extremely poor.
As for Jim’s commentary. Mixing-up horses (especially in the first on Saturday) failing to identify the correct leader (last race on Sunday), telling viewers/listeners that High Standing was coming with a powerful run in the Diadem…
Does anybody in BBC management ‘review’ the performances of its employees ? If I made so many mistakes in my job I’d be challenged immediately – and I work for one of the most incompetent local authorities in the UK!
"Does anybody in BBC management ‘review’ the performances of its employees ?"
This is a question I have been asking for some time and not just about the racing and sports teams.
Some of the reporters and readers on the news programmes are awful.
And to think that the BBC was held in such esteem at one time.
Colin
What happened to the coverage of Sunday and the Cumberland Lodge?
I remember coming home from school to watch that race on the Thursday, with the QEII on the Saturday when the meeting was the ‘Festival of Racing’ Milligram v Miesque……., and the Eddery v Cauthen Title race.
Aah memories, is it really the same sport now?
It seems to me a bold assumption that there would be anybody left at the BBC that knows or cares enough about racing to be aware that Carson and McGrath are incompetent.
AP
There is a definite downturn in Carson’s performance when Clare is away rightly securing her own future covering sports that the BBC are still interested in, and it seems that he misses her too because he demonstrated on Saturday that he is unable to laugh at himself and seems to resent being ‘helped’ by the other male presenters.
He was heard off camera saying quite sternly: ‘I am paid to talk’ when Rishi was trying to shut him up and move on and also: ‘you asked for an opinion and you got one’ somewhat testily to Barty when he light heartedly commented on his opinion.
For me the Beeb can no longer muster a proper big day feel to their coverage and particularly without Claire the whole thing is looking to be increasingly in sloppy meltdown mode ahead of what looks like the inevitable withdrawal from covering racing altogether. Sad.
Willie Carson is an extremely knowledgeable ( if inarticulate) racing person – certainly more knowledgeable than any of the esteemed members of this august forum, I venture to guess –
but he is not, God bless him, the sharpest tool in the box, and quite often fails to grasp the more subtle side of his co presenter’s humour.
He is to broadcasting/tv presenting what Jordan is to female decorum, manners and etiquette.
That said, I think Rishi Persad is a pain in hind quarters.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
Willie Carson is an extremely knowledgeable ( if inarticulate) racing person – certainly more knowledgeable than any of the esteemed members of this august forum, I venture to guess –
That opinion surely can’t be based on his appearances on BBC racing, it’s about as accurate as Carson’s analysis of the stewards enquiries and future races for the winners on saturday.
Did you watch BBC’s coverage from Ascot on Saturday?
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