Racing UK

C

Colin Phillips

At the Start
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
13,268
Location
Talbot Green
................are feckin' unbelievable, their 'new idea', is it called 'Mark Your Card'? had Agnus McNae and Lee Mottershead in the studio; if that wasn't enough, it included a piece about James Willoughby and Oliver Bell playing cricket and finished with a piece that included a 'pantomime horse' race and a woman pulling the nasal hairs out of her partner's nose. This programme finished at 1.25-ish and the first race they were covering at Newbuty was due off at 1.30.

No shots of the horses in the paddock, it was a 3-y-o maiden!!! and a rushed "build up" to the race.

They really know what the racing enthusiast wants, don't they!?!?
 
Colin, you won't get pix of the horses with that shower, anyway. You'll get endlessly over-analysing heads prattling inanely about the merits of the 250-1 shot, while the top four canter to post in the far distance. I've (nearly) given up wheezing on about them, but they're addicted to going through the card, horse by horse, while what you really want to see is a blur in the background. Why would I want to see Nick Luck, Graham Cunningham, Steve Mellish, Lydia Hislop, Jonathan Neesom, Lorna Bradburne, and assorted other talking heads, when I'm supposedly buying a subscription to horse races?

I watched Channel 4 today with great pleasure, because we got to see the animals in the parade ring, and Nick Luck confined himself to quick interviews with the winning trainers. That's what RUK should be doing - I don't know who's responsible for their atrocious format of not letting viewers review the animals for themselves by sight, but I'm on the verge of banging off a Yours Disgusted. I did have to resort to them after Ch.4 bade us goodbyeee, but with the Mute on until the races started.

I'm not surprised by the studio inanities - anything but show the subscriber the horses.
 
But did C4 show the paddock in real-time,Krizon, or literally just before the off, so you couldn't get a bet on in time if something really caught your eye? That is my gripe with all of the channels.
 
Ah, I see what you mean there, Redhead. Well, they didn't say that the paddock was pre-recorded, so I assumed it was in real-time. I still think ATR do the best job of showing you the animals, to be honest, even if they have presenters who seem to annoy everyone!
 
"I still think ATR do the best job of showing you the animals, to be honest, even if they have presenters who seem to annoy everyone!"

Can't agree with that, Kri!

On the whole I think they are the worst; just occasionally "The Weavershark!!!!!!!!!" will do a nice piece from the pre-parade ring or paddock but in the main they rush back from the ad-break and you get a long-distance glimpse as they are stalls-loaded.
 
Why do paddock shots seem to be regarded as some must have thing on racing coverage?!

They should as much (or arguably less) have paddock shots as they should a segment for speed ratings, trainer form, pedigrees etc. Besides, how much can you really gain from tv pictures with regards horse appearance? And even if they did show them, without the "talking head" saying whether it was normal or not for a horse to get a bit jazzed up before a race, it'd just confuse the picture for the average viewer even further! Horse racing has so many variables and they cant all be covered in as much detail as everyone would like.
 
Speed ratings, trainer form and other such things are all available elsewhere.

The one thing that the racing channels can give you, that isn't available elsewhere, is a view of the horses. I would agree that a view from the television screen isn't always clever but it is the only view we are going to get without actually attending the course.
 
Whilst we are at it - this habit of zooming in on the leader at the last in hurdle and chase races drives me mad . Today they did that at Market Rasen and the fact Silverlord made a much worse mistake than the winner was missed.

K makes a good point - we often get a talking head telling us what they thought of the horses in the paddock but we are not allowed to see for ourselves .
 
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ATR are gash, minimising a Group One at Longchamp with no commentary for a crap chase at Fakenham with Thommo commentating on it.
 
ATR rarely show horses in the paddock either, yet this doesn't seem to be mentioned.

Yes, it would be nice to see the horses in the paddock but has been said before, you cannot possibly judge with any accuracy how well a horse looks from a television screen!
 
Shadow Leader said:
ATR rarely show horses in the paddock either, yet this doesn't seem to be mentioned.
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In fairness ATR has so many problems it is easy to let one like that slip by...

Rather than the Racing Post trying to save the BBC coverage, maybe they should do a survey/poll of their readers on their views on the racing channels and ways to improve them....no no that could possibly make a difference!
 
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Not a bad idea Gal - as you say though, too easy!!

I can't bring myself to watch ATR it's so bad - I time it so I put it on when they jump off and turn it off when they pull up.
 
Personally I just feel sorry for all the punters at home who are deciding what to back on the basis of Bird, Ennis, Boyce, Chapman, Bryce, Jones and Harvey's selections and "paddock notes".
 
Galileo said:
In fairness ATR has so many problems it is easy to let one like that slip by...

Rather than the Racing Post trying to save the BBC coverage, maybe they should do a survey/poll of their readers on their views on the racing channels and ways to improve them....no no that could possibly make a difference!
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Which is what the Horse & Country channel is doing!
 
Given that the bookies play such an important role within the industry now, how about they get of their fat backsides and do something to improve it rather than bringing in 3 new games for their FOBT how about putting a sign outside the shops - yes a bloody sign not a new £500 jackpot sign but a sign that says HOW CAN WE IMPROVE YOUR RACING EXPIERANCE followed by setting up a box inside for suggestions on improvements within the Racing Industry.
 
Well, yes, today was a vivid demonstration of being over-scheduled. ATR tried to cram in everything from everywhere, with very poor results. Split screens, where the second-best is reduced to what look like Shetland ponies, rushed finishes and no time at all for any interviews or insights. That can happen on RUK, too, of course, if one has a glut of its 'own' courses on one day.

But I suppose that would be enough for those betting today - they only want to see the finish and whether their punt won or lost. So for thousands of people who aren't the slightest bit interested in Binky Maltravers-Smythe's home-bred 15 y.o. hunter winning the Old Guts & Garters Hunters Chase over 15 miles (as that's what most of them feel like!), then a show of SPs and a quick shot of the post is more than enough. It's not racing as I like to know it, because I like to see 'em in the parade ring, if not the pre-parade, but time constraints mitigate against such helpfulness.
 
Irish Stamp said:
Personally I just feel sorry for all the punters at home who are deciding what to back on the basis of Bird, Ennis, Boyce, Chapman, Bryce, Jones and Harvey's selections and "paddock notes".
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No sympathies whatsoever for any punters stupid enough to decide what to back from their sofa, going by what a bunch of faces tell them on a TV screen.
 
Curiouser and curiouser - RUK just have decided to show us all the horses in the paddock at Goodwood for the first - with comments from Messrs Luck and Fremantle !
 
jairducochetfan said:
Why do paddock shots seem to be regarded as some must have thing on racing coverage?!
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You can tell a lot from just a quick glimpse before the race. I make half my bets from paddock-viewing and some of the best ones involve throwing the form book out of the window and going purely on what I see.

(Makes me a lousy tipster, mind, as I'll tell you what the form says and change my mind at the paddock rail :lol:)
 
redhead said:
You can tell a lot from just a quick glimpse before the race. I make half my bets from paddock-viewing and some of the best ones involve throwing the form book out of the window and going purely on what I see.

(Makes me a lousy tipster, mind, as I'll tell you what the form says and change my mind at the paddock rail :lol:)
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I have vowed to not read the comments in racecards any more as I have talked myself out of more winners than I can remember by not following my own instincts from looking at them in the pre parade/parade ring/on their way out to the course.
 
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