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“This is the best we’ve seen” -Arkle,
“and here she comes, the Queen of Longchamp!”-Allez France
“But Lester Piggott’s looking round for dangers, he thinks he’s got Buckskin cold!”-Sagaro
“It’s the old man Sea Pigeon! He’s won it at last!”
“It’s hats off and a tremendous reception! You’ve never heard one like it at Liverpool!”-Red Rum
We will never hear his like again.
A truly great man.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"In the same way that we say that punk, glam rock or the New Romantics provided the soundtrack to our childhoods, for me it was Sir Peter’s commentaries from Monksfield through to Dessie that was mine.
Just a couple if days ago I watched Dessie and Dawn Run’s Gold Cups for the umpteenth time. Spine tingling stuff.
At least for once we aren’t saying “he was taken from us too soon”. A wonderful life for a wonderful man. RIP.
As I was saying to a racing friend last night, no Classic winner (shown on ITV) actually became a top horse in my eyes until I had heard what Peter O’Sullevsn had to say about it when commentating on it in the St James’s Palace Stakes, or the King George.
He simply was a cut above everyone – past and present.
It wasn’t just the gravelly voice and the range of tones – it was what he said.
He commanded instant respect – as others have said, for many of us as kids he was our entrance into racing – and what an entrance it was.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"We live in an age of computer information, satellite pictures, jockey cams, helmet cams, speedometers, sectional times, arty camera angles and endless guff talked by pundits.
Peter O’Sullevan could bring a race alive and leave the magic lingering in your memory long afterwards by simply using his wit and his voice.
From the Sea Birds to the Sea Pigeons, the Arkles and The Kauto Stars, Bula, Pendil, Mill Reef the Brigadier, Nijinsky, the imperious Red Rum and all the way through to the mighty Frankel, Peter witnessed Equine Gods and became a legend himself.
RIP
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Very much part of my growing-up years and has been sadly missed from the commentary box for the past 20 years or so. Always came across as a true gent when interviewed. RIP Sir Peter.
Did Channel 4’s snoring line even mention his death this morning? Forgot the last time I saw a whole show its so boring
Like all the great sports commentators, Longhurst, Benaud he understood the value of silence.
I was shocked listening to one of his commentaries in the 60’s him coming out with a pun Stewart Machin would have been proud of.
Thankfully he knocked that on the head as I can’t remember any more.
Many great commentaries but the top for me has to be Red Rum’s 3rd National, 2 absolute legends of the game both at the top of their form, at the same time.
Unfortunate not to have found a copy of the Post that ran the extended tribute to Sir Peter (all of Sheffield seemed to have run out); but perhaps one’s own personal memories of someone, and what that someone meant to them, are what matter the most.
Either way, here is a clip of his final ever BBC commentary, that for the 1997 Hennessy Gold Cup:
Imperfect? Yes. Occasionally hesitant? Undoubtedly so. But still better at 79 than most commentators manage at any time of life? Absolutely.
Nice to hear Hugh Dennis paying him a little tribute on The Now Show a week last Friday, too, by impersonating Sir Peter reading out the end credits.
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.
Unfortunate not to have found a copy of the Post that ran the extended tribute to Sir Peter (all of Sheffield seemed to have run out); but perhaps one’s own personal memories of someone, and what that someone meant to them, what matter the most.
Either way, here is a clip of his final ever BBC commentary, that for the 1997 Hennessy Gold Cup:
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Imperfect? Yes. Occasionally hesitant? Undoubtedly so. But still better at 79 than most commentators manage at any time of life? Absolutely.
Nice to hear Hugh Dennis paying him a little tribute on The Now Show a week last Friday, too, by impersonating Sir Peter reading out the end credits.
gc
Its often overlooked that in the following race – The Fulke Walwyn Chase – his own Sounds Fyne won at the very generous odds of 12/1 – trained by his great friend Jimmy Fitzgerald. I remember backing it, unable to accept one of the shrewdest trainers in the game wouldn’t have laid this one out to bring the curtain down on a great career in such a fitting way.
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