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Apologies for jumping in VtC. I should really have left it to you to answer that question. Guess I couldn’t resist the urge to get a bit nostalgic…
I remember Venture To Cognac very well. Backed the horse many times, in victory and defeat. Memory a bit clouded, but I’m sure I backed him when he lost a three horse novice chase at odds on.
He won the Sun Alliance Novice’s hurdle at Cheltenham in 1979, if I’m not mistaken.
He then went novice chasing and performed well, and great things were expected of him thereafter. He was a talented but frustrating horse and never fully realised his potential.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
What i dislike about C4 Racing is the ass licking by presenters.Leslie Graham is a prime example.She always has that false smile when she interviews the winning jockey straight after the race.She is always full of praise for the winning connections even though it may have been a 40/1 shot and half the nation have done their brains in on the odds on favorite.
They never say anything negative about any trainer or jockey.K Fallon didn’t get much stick when accused of race fixing and the time he was guilty of taking cocaine. D Gallagher twice or was it thrice? G Bradley former jump jockey who blatanly lost on a odds on shot in a 2 horse race about 15 years ago is treated like a saint on C4 Racing.
Remember that awful ride P Carbury gave Harchibald in the Champion Hurdle a few years back.The next day on the morning line they said totally exonerated him saying thats the way the horse is.
J McCririck slated the Dunguib jockey last week , i didn’t see the morning line or know whether it was justified but it makes a change from the constant ass licking.
True I did my dollars on Ballenger Ridge ,Man Mood , Harchibald and Dunguib but even if i had backed the winners instead , i would expect them to say what everyone else is thinking and not make up lame excuses or them.
Aha; I did feel that there was a Sherwood link to the horse, so I have got a bit of a memory left. However, I also feel that Oliver Sherwood trained a horse with a slightly similar name as well; The West Awake being a similar sort of name.
What i dislike about C4 Racing is the ass licking by presenters.Leslie Graham is a prime example.She always has that false smile when she interviews the winning jockey straight after the race.She is always full of praise for the winning connections even though it may have been a 40/1 shot and half the nation have done their brains in on the odds on favorite.
They never say anything negative about any trainer or jockey.K Fallon didn’t get much stick when accused of race fixing and the time he was guilty of taking cocaine. D Gallagher twice or was it thrice? G Bradley former jump jockey who blatanly lost on a odds on shot in a 2 horse race about 15 years ago is treated like a saint on C4 Racing.
Remember that awful ride P Carbury gave Harchibald in the Champion Hurdle a few years back.The next day on the morning line they said totally exonerated him saying thats the way the horse is.
J McCririck slated the Dunguib jockey last week , i didn’t see the morning line or know whether it was justified but it makes a change from the constant ass licking.
True I did my dollars on Ballenger Ridge ,Man Mood , Harchibald and Dunguib but even if i had backed the winners instead , i would expect them to say what everyone else is thinking and not make up lame excuses or them.
Everyone knows Big Mac says what he thinks, which is fine, but you can’t have every single presenter laying into jockeys etc. when they feel like it. The Morning Line would turn into a slanging match which would be dreadful viewing. They’ve got to play devils advocate to some extent, standing on the fence somewhat, as responsible journalists. After all, most observations are just an opinion rather than fact at the end of the day. You say they should state "what everyone else is thinking" but how do YOU know what everyone else is thinking? Not everyone thinks Carbery gave Harchibald a bad ride: I don’t, although I agree about Dunguib. What the C4 presenters think doesn’t matter.
That being said, I could cheerfully punch Leslie Graham’s lights out next time I see that ridiculous grin
I think more people need to write to Channel 4 if they want more coverage of the paddock.
I get the distinct impression that their current policy is market research gone awry.I would like to hear something like " that was a bad ride….." instead of excuses , just once in a while.
And what does " what a great training performance…." actually mean? I don’t want to hear that when a 33/1 shot has won.
And now, according to the Sunday papers, Emma Spencer/Ramsden is to be the new ‘face’ of C4’s racing coverage. Certainly easy on the eye, and seems knowledgeable enough, if a little lightweight? I fear that she will be used as a platform and easy entry point into other non racing related items – fashion for instance.
Talking of fashion, is it just me that thinks Tanya dresses like someone’s nan?
And now, according to the Sunday papers, Emma Spencer/Ramsden is to be the new ‘face’ of C4’s racing coverage. Certainly easy on the eye, and seems knowledgeable enough, if a little lightweight? I fear that she will be used as a platform and easy entry point into other non racing related items – fashion for instance.
Talking of fashion, is it just me that thinks Tanya dresses like someone’s nan?
Hmmm, I’m not sure about Emma Spencer being the ‘face’ of C4 coverage but to give her her due, I do think the C4 team is loaded towards ‘jumps’ people so it’ll be nice to have someone more flat orientated.
I think their overall standards have quickly slipped and the show is a shadow of what it was. I appreciate they have to appeal to a wider audiaance than just racing fans and punters, but have dumbed down too much at the expence of the actual racing chat/content.
I thought the Cheltenham coverage more resembled a daytime magazine type programme, especially with the whole dual presentation of Down and Plunkett saying alternate lines a la Richard and judy.Just watched the 4.25 haydock on RUK where the gamble Nevertika bolted and did a lap of the course.Graham Cunningham blasted the trainer for running the horse which pulled up a circuit early.He was supported by one of his colleauges at another track who joined the gamble.
Wouldn’t have happened on C4 , would of had Leslie Graham ass licking the connections with her false smile on.
Talking of fashion, is it just me that thinks Tanya dresses like someone’s nan?
To be fair to Tanya (who is a favourite of mine), with the exception of Emma, Vicky Haigh, Claire King, Alex Quinn and Miss Williams, ninety percent of women involved in horse racing could audition for the Woman at Oxfam ad campaign and get the part. I just don’t think they’re all that bothered about gear.
Round our way, girls were interested in either boys or horses and I reckon as far as folklore goes, its a culturally robust truism.
Hmmm, I’m not sure about Emma Spencer being the ‘face’ of C4 coverage but to give her her due, I do think the C4 team is loaded towards ‘jumps’ people so it’ll be nice to have someone more flat orientated.
I think it was the stated intention a while ago, wasn’t it, to have Alistair Down and Alice Plunkett as the spearheads of the jumps season on Channel 4, and Emma Spencer plus A N Other (and shamefully the mind goes blank now I’m typing) to be the equivalent for the Flat? Unless there’s been an about-face by C4 in the interim, what the Sundays were positing as news isn’t really hot off the press.
If that all still holds true, I’d expect we’ll see little of Fat Al and the Saucy Minx between May and September; save, perhaps, for a quick trundling out on Summer Plate day.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
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