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Officially left ATR after 8 years today.
Gordie has been removed from the At The Races website list of presenters today. Richard Pitman has also been belatedly removed after ATR at last remembered that he had come home from a Hereford meeting and told them that he didn’t want to do it any more.
Pleased to see that ATR has at last taken the hint and altered Alex Quinn to Alex Hammond. Well done, chaps.
Tommo, meanwhile, hasn’t taken a blind bit of notice of mistakes on his website and is still content to have a testimonial from Jeremy Kyle with the spelling mistakes "detetctor" and "definately", not to mention the lack of two apostrophes."Tommo is a winner – theres nothing wrong with his DNA test – and he passed the lie detetctor test with flying colours! Seriously, he’s a man I’ve watched for years on television and is definately the top man! Hes also a very, very good judge at picking winners! "
Jeremy Kyle, TV PresenterBy that do you mean he is being dumped off the course commentator roster? Thats sad as I actually think he is very good at race calling.
I seem to recall reading something about Aussie Jim McGrath and Darren Owen being under review as well, but that may have just been with regard to their BBC work, which is of course all academic now.
Thommo, JA McGrath, Darren Owen and Iain Mackenzie have all been under review since the start of January, following the recommendations of the Commentator Review Group. Where the last two named in particular are concerned, there is not a shred of justification for this action in my opinion.
See also:
https://theracingforum.co.uk/horse-r … 021&start=
By the end of June it should be know who, if any, of this quartet will have been released, and likewise who, if any, of the three triallists currently on the roster will be granted an extra six months.
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.
Thommo, JA McGrath, Darren Owen and Iain Mackenzie have all been under review since the start of January, following the recommendations of the Commentator Review Group. Where the last two named in particular are concerned, there is not a shred of justification for this action in my opinion.
By the end of June it should be know who, if any, of this quartet will have been released, and likewise who, if any, of the three triallists currently on the roster will be granted an extra six months.The goons who make these decisions have acted totally without shame and in a completely thoughtless way.
Those faced with the chop have had to keep on working professionally and as well as they can, knowing that it is not their own performances that are the real point but the desire to clear out most of the old guard on age-related grounds, dressed up as performance review, and bring in younger and more favoured newcomers.
The obvious solution would be to keep all of them on but just give them slightly fewer commentary slots. I’m sure most people in this position would sooner have some work, even if it’s slightly less than they would wish, than none at all.
That would apply to the older ones, who would no doubt rather accept two or three days a month than none at all, and the new ones would no doubt be happy to have some work and gradually have it increased over the years when the older ones did actually come up to retirement age.
I know that another forum member, Paul Ostermeyer, does not agree with me here and does not believe that people should keep their places this way if it is deemed that they are past their sell-by date. And let’s face it, they all have other, no doubt lucrative, sources of income so won’t be out on the streets but that would just be my way of dealing fairly and considerately to those involved. They don’t deserve brutal exits, even if that is the way of the world in other walks of life.
Those bidding to join the roster permanently all deserve to be given a place but I just don’t think that those under threat should be dropped unceremoniously and then have to suffer the added insult that it is supposedly because of their performance, rather than just because they are older, have become unfashionable and their faces don’t fit.
In Tommo’s case, nobody could try harder to give good value for money.Gordon Brown seems to be doing a good job on Racing UK, from the bits I saw on the Cartmel coverage, courtesy of sportinglife.com.
But he still hasn’t been added to the list of presenters on Racing UK’s website, which seems very slack considering he is a key defection from At The Races.
David Fitzgerald is also not given an entry on the presenters section, despite the fact that he is also regularly appearing on the channel.Just got a letter telling me that my monthly sub is going up another £1.70. It’s still not bad value when stacked against the cost of racecourse entry, but it’s the manner of the doing and its justification that sticks in the craw.
They have recently launched the free RUKAnywhere multi platform service but are now using this as a reason to increase the price. Trouble is I only want Sky and you can’t opt out. Secondly their letter trumpets the addition of Ascot to their portfolio, but I could always get that for free from ATR. Finally they boast of how 100% of their profits go back into racing, but does anyone know how much that is in Pounds, and where it goes?
Grumpy rant over.
Does this mean we’ll get to see more of the horses in the paddock and going to post instead of waffle in the studio or at the track? I somehow doubt it.
How much is frittered away on tie ups with Ruby Walsh, Hayley Turner and Aiden Coleman?
I see Tanya Stevenson still has a column, do many even read it let alone take notice of it?RUK should be leading the way in horseracing coverage sadly it doesn’t do that.
I subscribe because it is helpful for my betting, I wouldn’t entertain it otherwise.
Apparently their customer service is some of the worst out there.
Does this mean we’ll get to see more of the horses in the paddock and going to post instead of waffle in the studio or at the track? I somehow doubt it.
How much is frittered away on tie ups with Ruby Walsh, Hayley Turner and Aiden Coleman?
I see Tanya Stevenson still has a column, do many even read it let alone take notice of it?RUK should be leading the way in horseracing coverage sadly it doesn’t do that.
I subscribe because it is helpful for my betting, I wouldn’t entertain it otherwise.
Apparently their customer service is some of the worst out there.
Does Tanya Stevenson write better than she talks?
When doing her ringside pieces she reminds of the Morecambe and Wise Andrew Previn sketch, all the right words but not necessarily in the right order.Yes, shame you can’t just pay for a picture only service.
Even after all this time they still don’t have a credible programme structure and what they do have is probably only a result of the competition from ATR.
Do they really need two or on occasions three reporters trackside plus another two in the studio? So much childish banter you could easily do without. When it comes to torture the combination of McNae and Willoughby could more than rival the best the Middle Ages had to offer.
Stilvi
where does your hero Chapman feature in all of this ???
for the record I agree with you though , they certainly could improve , as for Willoughby I think he’s a long playing record on sectional times now ….its clear we wont be getting them any time soon , although I have a hunch they might try them at Kempton
imo
Willoughby used to be quite decent when he concentrated on form but he seems to have lost the plot lately.
Seems to think he’s some sort of expert on betting, which he isn’t.
He’s obsessed with stats, can only tell you who’s a good jockey by looking at his ratings and the same with sectional timing.
He said we should all get involved on sectional timing before the big betting syndicates from abroad come over and take advantage of them, who will they get their bets on with here?
What he never says is how successful all this info is at predicting future winners and making money for himself betting? It’s all past information.
Willoughby used to be quite decent when he concentrated on form but he seems to have lost the plot lately.
Seems to think he’s some sort of expert on betting, which he isn’t.
He’s obsessed with stats, can only tell you who’s a good jockey by looking at his ratings and the same with sectional timing.
He said we should all get involved on sectional timing before the big betting syndicates from abroad come over and take advantage of them, who will they get their bets on with here?
What he never says is how successful all this info is at predicting future winners and making money for himself betting? It’s all past information.
Excellent post in my opinion. I agree with all of it.
Up to about a year ago, James made a niche for himself as a witty and intelligent guest, particularly when paired with Lydia Hislop for the Wednesday night Kempton stint.
However, since then he has parked his natural sense of humour and become a sectional times bore. He quite literally talks about nothing else, going into overdrive when Meydan in on.
Mike
Agree with all that. Does an excellent Smeagol impression with his mouth, too.
I use my eyes and the stats. Presenters can give us stats and opinions whilst we see footage of the horses. We don’t need – or indeed want – to be looking at Fitzy, Graham or Nick whilst being fed platitudes about trainer form or jockey camaraderie
The same is happening in the bookies. Their own presenters are waffling on for five minutes with their opinions on a race and failing to tell people if the horses are going behind, entering the stalls etc . An incessant stream of crap
If i had a £1 for every time a pundit told me a trainer was in " great form " two weeks after their last winner, i’d buy Qatar.
Never understood why they show French racing when it is called Racing UK.
I struggle to back winners in the UK with form that I know without the French and that irritaing t**t Claude whoever talking in his annoying accent.Apparently their customer service is some of the worst out there.
Its awful. A while ago I asked for help in finding the password for my RUK account and they said they couldn’t help
I have found I always get a decent response when I have complained by email. The service was very poor with online viewing unavailable several times in November and I sent an email suggesting a refund was in order. Early this month a cheque duly arrived.
The further price increase on top of the recent £5 when the new viewing options were introduced takes me close to the point of cancelling and any further increase in the next 12 months will make my mind up for me.
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