Channel 4 Racing is stunningly bland and tedious since they dumped Big Mac and Thommo. They've always spent too much time brown-tonguing the big trainers but at least with Big Mac there was some entertainment. If you want serious racing punditry, Racing UK is far superior.
PS He is/was the only racing broadcaster with the integrity and balls to say that if a jockey breaks the whip rules it is cheating and the horse should be disqualified - if crossing the line first, therefore it should lose the race.
Channel 4 Racing is stunningly bland and tedious since they dumped Big Mac and Thommo. They've always spent too much time brown-tonguing the big trainers but at least with Big Mac there was some entertainment. If you want serious racing punditry, Racing UK is far superior.
PS He is/was the only racing broadcaster with the integrity and balls to say that if a jockey breaks the whip rules it is cheating and the horse should be disqualified - if crossing the line first, therefore it should lose the race.
Agree entirely.Channel 4 racing is very poor now with those bland arse lickers.
Channel 4 Racing is stunningly bland and tedious since they dumped Big Mac and Thommo. They've always spent too much time brown-tonguing the big trainers but at least with Big Mac there was some entertainment. If you want serious racing punditry, Racing UK is far superior.
PS He is/was the only racing broadcaster with the integrity and balls to say that if a jockey breaks the whip rules it is cheating and the horse should be disqualified - if crossing the line first, therefore it should lose the race.
Personally, I did not go for BigM's shtick, however as you say Peanuts, he had the integrity to be critical of certain aspects of what is a very 'luvvie' industry not given to over self criticism. Perhaps he would have been taken more seriously had he dropped the jester persona. There again, it was always the court jester who got away with telling the king a few unpalatable facts, whereas other courtiers would have been dragged off to the Tower. McCririck was interviewed on Radio5 this morning. He's claiming that all his 'act' on racing, big brother etc was at the behest of C4 bosses who encouraged his 'pantomime' acting. It was suggested that it was not he but his act which had gone stale and outdated. Surprisingly, he did not argue against that too vociferously. Oh, by the way, no mention of his old sidekick, the 'Romford fog'orn', Barry Dennis, another racing industry dinosaur.
Totally accept that he wasn't everyone's cup of tea. As a person he can be/is remarkably unpleasant (I met him once and wouldn't care to again) but that didn't preclude him from making a worthwhile and entertaining contribution to C4 Racing, so far as I was concerned. Judging by the huge amount of stick he's got on racing forums, I'm in a small minority. It's just a shame that, following the lead of dumbed-down news bulletins, Channel 4 racing (which was once very watchable and informative) has become so vacuous. Still, there's worse things in life.
Bloke I work with said his old man (a course bookie from way back in the day) always thought he was a c*** - and he was a mild mannered man not given to hyperbole. This is thirty years ago, mind - before he was well-known to the public at large.
Bloke I work with said his old man (a course bookie from way back in the day) always thought he was a c*** - and he was a mild mannered man not given to hyperbole. This is thirty years ago, mind - before he was well-known to the public at large.
I think he was warned off all racecourses in the UK due to gambling debts, I think he was bailed out by Racing Post or Channel 4.
The trouble is that now, after the court case, he has become a caricature of himself. If he had any sense he'd shave those silly whiskers off, burn those ridiculous clothes, lean how to talk properly and stop shouting all the time, and maybe, just maybe he could try and reinvent himself a serious racing journo.
Channel 4 Racing is stunningly bland and tedious since they dumped Big Mac and Thommo. They've always spent too much time brown-tonguing the big trainers but at least with Big Mac there was some entertainment. If you want serious racing punditry, Racing UK is far superior.
PS He is/was the only racing broadcaster with the integrity and balls to say that if a jockey breaks the whip rules it is cheating and the horse should be disqualified - if crossing the line first, therefore it should lose the race.
Completely agree Peanuts...caught some of The Morning Line when I was back in London in the summer and a once unmissable show was incredibly dull. They have literally sucked the life out if it with the presenting changes and format.
Does Nick Luck still present at all on C4 racing? (He wasn't on that day so wasn't sure if he had gone too)
I think Luck's still on it but TBH I always watch Racing UK or Attheraces - I can't stand C4's cheesy style. IMO it's a parallel to the "we must broaden the audience for the sport" crap spouted by people at the top of horseracing (it's that thinking that ruined county cricket IMO). Dumbing down the main terrestrial broadcasts is particularly stupid because viewers with a marginal interest in horse racing are not going to start regularly watching the Morning Line at 8am and established viewers are going to be pissed off at the new patronising style. .....................nothing like an early morning rant to blow away the hangover. Can you get access to coverage of British horseracing over there Dan? Some interesting races at Cheltenham this afternoon to help plug the 3pm gap.
Comments
Daft old bastard!
They've always spent too much time brown-tonguing the big trainers but at least with Big Mac there was some entertainment.
If you want serious racing punditry, Racing UK is far superior.
PS He is/was the only racing broadcaster with the integrity and balls to say that if a jockey breaks the whip rules it is cheating and the horse should be disqualified - if crossing the line first, therefore it should lose the race.
McCririck was interviewed on Radio5 this morning. He's claiming that all his 'act' on racing, big brother etc was at the behest of C4 bosses who encouraged his 'pantomime' acting. It was suggested that it was not he but his act which had gone stale and outdated. Surprisingly, he did not argue against that too vociferously. Oh, by the way, no mention of his old sidekick, the 'Romford fog'orn', Barry Dennis, another racing industry dinosaur.
It's just a shame that, following the lead of dumbed-down news bulletins, Channel 4 racing (which was once very watchable and informative) has become so vacuous. Still, there's worse things in life.
He had to re-mortgage his house to fund the case - and now he has lost the case anyway.
He's a vile pig.
Won't happen, just a thought like.
Does Nick Luck still present at all on C4 racing? (He wasn't on that day so wasn't sure if he had gone too)
IMO it's a parallel to the "we must broaden the audience for the sport" crap spouted by people at the top of horseracing (it's that thinking that ruined county cricket IMO).
Dumbing down the main terrestrial broadcasts is particularly stupid because viewers with a marginal interest in horse racing are not going to start regularly watching the Morning Line at 8am and established viewers are going to be pissed off at the new patronising style.
.....................nothing like an early morning rant to blow away the hangover.
Can you get access to coverage of British horseracing over there Dan? Some interesting races at Cheltenham this afternoon to help plug the 3pm gap.