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https://twitter.com/RacingPost/status/1147077739263995904
Sorry to see him go.
At his best he brought a smile to our faces, spoke up for the punters and wasn’t afraid to say what many others were. He complemented the C4 team well.
I’ll try to forget about Celebrity BB and some of the more ill thought out comments.
Whilst undoubtedly a “marmite” character , this is very sad news.
Ignoring some of his non racing activities , he was never short of an opinion , and did seem to genuinely have the punters interests at heart.
The racing media tends to be populated largely by sycophants who fail to ask searching questions , and he certainly stood out from the crowd.
My thoughts go out to his loved ones. R.I.P..Really sad news, I got to know him when I worked in racing and in “real life” he was nothing like his on screen persona, in fact he was very shy.
He was a generous man who would do anything for anyone and was devoted to “The Booby” his long suffering wife Jenny, as she was devoted to him – she was very much the boss.
My thoughts are with Jenny.
Agree with all the above. He was a genuine non conformist and we see too few of those these days. In the world of matey golfing backslapping world of most sports presnters (cricket is terrible for this), he was surprisingly refreshing, although i disagreed with much of what he said.
I agree with the sentiments above, he was very much a marmite character and think he became too much a caricature of himself at times. I think there’s a video on You Tube of him being ejected from an ITV chat show hosted by Alan Titchmarsh because of his ill judged and outdated points of view.
He regularly made me smile when I saw him on Channel 4, often speaking up on behalf of punters, and will miss him.
RIP to his friends and family
Certainly larger than life was John “Big Mac ” McCririck not afraid to voice his opinion. Many memories of him on TV but the best was one Cheltenham Festival where he said something about Pipe’s (Martin) not going to win such a race, and when it did he was groveling at his feet.
You've got to accentuate the positive.
Eliminate the negative.
Latch on to the affirmative.
Don't mess with mister in between.Sorry to be picky/nerdy Red Rum but I think you mean the Imperial Cup at Sandown, Mac said Blowing Wind couldn’t win and would kiss Martin Pie’s feet if it did, it won!
I also recall one day I think at Doncaster that Mac got soaked as it had rained all day and he moaned at his wife (The Booby) for forgetting to bring his umbrella. In typical deadpan style John Francome suggested that Mac had forgotten to bring his incontinence pad
Crude but hilarious!Big Mac was a larger than life character who graced our television screens for almost 30yrs, loath him or love him he was a punters man, he uncovered a few racing crooks in his early days as an investigative journalist and won awards for doing so.
Thoughts are with Jenny at this sad time R.I.P Big Mac.
All comers, all ground, all beaten
Agree with most of the sentiments alluded to here.
Prior to nis reality tv days he was a genuinely excellent journalist and broadcaster.
In a racing world populated by the worst of sychophants he was never afraid to ask the searching, and awkward, questions that nobody else would.When you watch today’s anodyne presenters one appreciates hisxqualities even more.I did meet and speak with him a on a couple of occasions; always had time for the public and he came across as a thoroughly decent bloke.
RIP Big Mac
I stand corrected, Phil
You've got to accentuate the positive.
Eliminate the negative.
Latch on to the affirmative.
Don't mess with mister in between.Very sad to hear of his death. I suppose in this squeaky clean PC world he might have been
seen as a bit of a dinosaur, but like his views or not you always knew where you stood with
John. I have no doubt that many now know how to play the PC game, and will filter their views
to fit in within those parameters. I disagreed with him on a fair bit, but I knew that I was
getting what he truly believed, and I’d rather have that than those that hide behind their
perceived “correctness”, at least then you can judge a man by his word. My condolences to
all his family, and of course his beloved Booby.Very sad news.
Dave Yates of the Mirror tweeted earlier, and I hope he won’t mind me posting…
“The world’s a funny place, largely full of nasty people trying to convince us they are nice. John McCririck seemed keen, for reasons best known to himself, to go at it in the opposite direction.”
John McCririck was a very rare thing, a racing professional who was widely recognised by the public at large. Racing is, at its heart, entertainment and he was an entertainer and communicator in an industry largely bereft of them.
RIP
The persona that John McCririck presented on TV as an ebullient extrovert was nothing like the the shy, quiet, actually quite morose man he really was.
I remember seeing him in a Press room on a quiet day when he was not working for Channel 4 and he was just sitting there, puffing on a big cigar (you could smoke indoors in those days), not speaking to anybody and all the other Press people just ignoring him.
I was surprised and asked one of the others about this and got the reply: “That’s what he does. Nobody speaks to him.”
On another occasion, I saw him at Windsor with Jason Weaver for At The Races. They were sitting next to each other in front of a monitor in total silence while he puffed on a cigar.
He also ignored Mike Cattermole, the course commentator that day and one of his Channel 4 colleagues. But the Booby was happy to speak to Cattermole.
I know he loathed Tommo because of Tommo’s juvenile messing about, ironically enough, and behind the banter was real animosity.
The main thing about McCririck was that he was a campaigning, award-winning journalist who really knew his stuff in-depth. His views on big issues were always worth hearing and his paper reviews were detailed and interesting.
A real Jekyll and Hyde and a contradiction in terms. A shy, insular, private, loner masquerading as a party animal and an animated people person.
He was in many ways a lonely introvert pretending to be a larger than life comedy turn. He had a nasty side but a lot of it was pure pantomime and a complete charade.
His successors in the betting ring are mere pale, insipid nonentities by comparison.
In my limited personal experience with him, he seemed nervy and unsure in private and massively over the top in public. My take is that his public persona – fabricated as it was – did racing much more harm than good. But he had no dial that you could turn and get the ‘temperature’ you wanted – it was all or nothing. A complex and fascinating man.
I agree Joe.
Sorry, I can’t be two faced just because John McCrirrick has died.
I didn’t like the on-screen John. See some here describe him as “genuine”. tbh I found him nothing of the sort. For sure a good journalist in the early years, but became someone looking for notoriety/self publicity. Doubt he truly believed some of the things he came out with. Making out he was the punter’s pal… Where as seemed to me he loved increasing the viewer/punter’s sense of injustice; not because he thought they were right but because loved winding people up and it (supposedly) made good TV.Not surprised those that knew him personally describe him as shy and nothing like the on screen John. Saw some of my own past social anxiety traits in his real persona. Am sure he was good to his friends and wife.
My thoughts are with the Booby.
Value Is EverythingThe last time I saw John McCririck was at Newmarket races on Future Champions Day 2 years ago. He walked into the Parade Ring before the big race, sat himself down on the edge of the prize giving platform, took out a huge Havana Cigar and lit up and there he sat puffing away whilst looking at his Raceform book and the horses parading. He was shaking and didn’t look well, dreadfully thin in the face a shadow of the JM that we all knew, but he was in the place that he loved best amongst the racegoers and the horses with his beloved Booby just a few yards away. Not everyone’s cup of tea but one of the many characters of racing that are slowly disappearing and not being replaced because they are not politically correct, speak their mind or challenge trainers to be honest about their horses chances. The closest I think we get nowadays is Mark Chapman.
RIP John McCririck and thank you for helping to care for the horses at Greatwood
Thoughts with Jenny McCririck (The Booby)Things turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out...
Crude but hilarious!
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