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A good many racing fans are inverted snobs / Old Labour reactionaries. That probably comes into it.
I really don’t think pressing two different digits on your Freeview remote is going to be that much of an effort. Why are people so lazy – and why do they assume their interests are the only ones?
(I have no great love for what Channel 4 is now compared to what it was for its first decade, btw, but I understand entirely *why* it is what it is and the pressures it is under.)
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Showcase meeting ends up getting moved slightly earlier, or at least to a different Saturday from Champions’ Day so as to continue coverage.
I like Clare Balding a lot – how far she, and all of us, have come since the Blair Summer when she first appeared alongside a desperately uncomfortable Julian Wilson – but will miss Alastair Down no end. Form is temporary, class is permanent, and Clare has the form but Fat Al has the class.
Interesting that the decision to have the same lead presenters throughout the year goes directly against the decision made a few years ago – up to and including 2009, Fat Al also presented the big events on the Flat and Cattermole did a number of lesser jumps meetings. I wonder if Alastair was offered Nick Luck’s role but didn’t want to work year-round and/or didn’t want to be perceived as a secondary presenter?
As stated, the additional races will clearly be on More4, which is a de facto terrestrial channel these days. Completely different circumstances from a decade ago when the additional Cheltenham races were on Film4 – then only available to a comparatively small audience.
I had suspected from quite a long way off that they’d do this – a good move.
I watched a programme about wrestling last night and, for some reason was thinking about racing as I watched it, especially when I realised that, like wrestling, racing is now no longer being shown by the BBC.
Wrestling was never shown by the BBC. It was always on ITV back when the Beeb had all the proper sport, ITV was locked out and Sky didn’t exist (and couldn’t have existed). The BBC would have seen it as beneath them.
Emotions don’t tend to lead to well reasoned thoughts.
Indeed not, but a lot of people’s responses to a lot of things, *especially* non-racing fans’ responses to the Grand National, *are* emotional gut reactions. Acknowledging that this is the case, as steeplechasing did, does not mean that you agree with it or that you respond that way yourself (at least over the issue being discussed).
Haydock Park, 21st September 1962 – Bob Haynes
Sandown Park, 8th January 1966 – Michael Seth-Smith
Fontwell Park, 19th September 1967 – Michael Seth-Smith
Lingfield Park, 12th May 1978 – Michael Seth-Smith
Folkestone, 21st July 1981 – Cloudesley Marsham
Plumpton, 14th August 1981 – Cloudesley Marsham
Brighton, 27th August 1981 – Michael Seth-Smith
Plumpton, 31st August 1981 – Ken Grainger
Newmarket, 29th October 1982 – Robin Gray and John Hickman
Windsor (evening), 23rd July 1984 – Michael Seth-Smith
Bangor-on-Dee, 18th October 1986 – Jeremy Branfoot
Fakenham, 19th February 1993 – Iain MackenzieRevised/expanded/spelling-corrected version of THE LIST now here:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?dzicu4tl1rulzjm
Sandown Park, 27th May 1969 – Cloudesley Marsham
Newbury, 23rd October 1976 – Ken GraingerSandown Park, 31st March 1965 – Michael Seth-Smith
Catterick, 21st October 1967 – Lionel Hampden
Catterick, 20th January 1968 – Lionel Hampden
Wetherby, 9th March 1968 – Lionel Hampden
Sandown Park, 16th March 1968 – Cloudesley Marsham
Sandown Park, 9th November 1968 – Ken Grainger
Wetherby, 15th October 1969 – Bryan Firth
Sandown Park, 8th November 1969 – Cloudesley Marsham
Catterick, 11th December 1971 – Bryan Firth
Nottingham, 21st February 1972 – John Penney
Market Rasen, 3rd April 1972 – Harry Beeby
Fontwell Park, 15th August 1973 – Bob Haynes
Haydock Park, 29th August 1974 – Michael Seth-Smith (Harry Beeby was auctioneer)
Haydock Park, 9th August 1975 – Ken Grainger
Newbury, 16th July 1977 – Michael Seth-Smith
Newton Abbot, 1st August 1977 – John Cotterell
Newton Abbot, 14th September 1978 – Bob Haynes
Fakenham, 23rd December 1978 – Ken GraingerThe 1981 Grand National itself, like all GNs back then, wouldn’t have had a course commentary as such. They’d simply have broadcast the BBC radio commentary (that year: Bromley, Seth-Smith, O’Hehir
pere
, Penney) over the PA. Watch YT uploads of old Nationals and you can sometimes hear the distinctive voices of the radio commentators (esp. Bromley) in the background, where normally you’d hear the course commentator.
Races run over the Melling course would have had a course commentary, though.
A few more:
Doncaster, 25th May 1992 – Bruce Friend-James
Doncaster, 3rd May 1993 – Simon Holt
Doncaster (evening), 11th June 1993 – Mark Johnson
Doncaster (evening), 26th June 1993 – Simon Holt
Doncaster, 21st July 1993 – Simon HoltTo be honest, I mainly left out post-2002 because I didn’t want to have to list a load of Leicester details from 2004-06, which all seemed pretty samey.
But some more additions for rather earlier years:
Birmingham, 27th April 1964 – Michael Seth-Smith
Nottingham, 4th/6th July 1964 – Ken Grainger
Lingfield Park, 26th September 1978 – Bob Haynes
Plumpton, 14th October 1981 – Bruce Friend-James
Lingfield Park, 16th October 1981 – Ken Grainger
