TV coverage

Big fan of Gary O'Brien and sad to see that he has to entertain the idea of racecourse commentating rather than the obvious position leading RUK in doing the same job he currently does for ATR. God only knows why he isn't an RTE mainstay already.
 
Just catching up on last Wednesday's recording.

After the Hunt Cup, Gleeson: "When Billy Lee's aboard he wins more than he loses."

I'm trying to think if there was ever a more inane and less accurate statement ever made on TV.

Do these people never think before they speak?
 
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granger said:
Looks like Des Scahill won't be commentating for much longer

Would hope that anyone broadcasting Irish racing will make good use of Richard Pugh as a commentator
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Scahill seems to very much divide opinion but I like his distinctive style of commentary (and I know he is far from perfect these days). As well as that he has been the primary commentator in Ireland for virtually all of the time I've watched racing! Tony O'Hehir on RTE is absolutely dreadful.

Totally agree on Richard Pugh - the information he throws in mid race is class. He strikes me as somewhat of an Irish version of Richard Hoiles - absolute encyclopedia of knowledge.

I didn't mind the ITV coverage in Ascot (granger I'd be interested in your opinion as I'd say you were glued to it...). I listen to the Final Furlong podcast with Kennedy and I actually think he has a decent blend of racing knowledge and keeping people engaged having the craic - can understand why he's not everyone's cup of tea though. On the whole , I don't see ITV as any better or worse than C4 really though.
 
Desert Orchid said:
I probably won't renew my RUK subscription when it's over but that's due to other factors, the main one being that it's a data channel and I can't record it and it's also unreliable. But the race coverage and analysis are miles better.
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I don't get to watch RUK as much as I used to, but they seem to have changed their rota of presenters? They used to have Mellish or Freemantle on fairly regularly who are excellent, along with Neesom over the jumps (who seemed to be on studio duty during Ascot). Those three are absolutely top class but they seem to be on less frequently, and I'm not as convinced by some of the ones who seem to be on more and more lately (although I do like Chris Dixon). Could just be watching on the wrong days I suppose...
 
RUK is OK but nowhere near as good as I was hoping when I took out the subscription.

Like I say, it's a data channel so I can't record it. The picture often freezes, including mid-race, which is a bit if a bastart if I've a bet on. It's also about 30 seconds behind 'live' TV (which isn't genuinely live). I've had the brother on the phone to discuss a result before I've finished watching the race while he's watching ITV.

Some of the analysts are interesting but the grammatical snob in me winces when I hear some of the things they say. And I hate hearing Newbury called 'Noobry'. That's pretty much enough for me to dismiss the views of the speaker.

On ITV yesterday the camera shots late in the Newcastle races were very unhelpful. In the good old days when the likes of Jo-Mell was winning regularly there there was an excellent camera angle allowing us to see nearly all the horses racing for the line. Yesterday the camera panned in on the front two and we never saw anything behind them until after the line. That's not good enough. The camera should be panning out. I thought Cosmelli and Euchan Glen were ten lengths clear of the field. It was only about three.
 
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Yes, I can usually find a way of watching most archived races either via RUK, ATR or the Jockey Club site But I prefer watching them on TV from an armchair.

The websites are good for accessing when double-checking runs against race comments and reports.
 
Replays can be watched through Skybet account via SP website. I 'joined' it about 4/5 years ago when they were offering a free bet for the Grand National, spent an actual £5 on a bet and have been watching them since.
 
Have used the sportinglife for video form for a good while now but getting increasingly frustrated that the RUK videos are available approximately 25% of the time when I try to access. I guess that its not just me that they aren't playing for but it has been going on for quite a while now. Not sure if there is a rights issue that needs resolving....for my viewing pleasure of course.
 
Hopefully when Sky take over from At The Races they introduce some new faces.

As standard of pundits and a lot of the presenters on the channel are awful

For example yesterday at Ffos Las Luke Harvey commented “There is no better jockey riding at the moment than Callum Shepherd “ . Really!
Then Robert Cooper said after the first race at Newcastle “whatever happed to Instant Attraction, he was never sighted”

Err, he led a furlong out and finished a close up 4th....
 
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Bob Cooper should have been sacked years ago -I can remember a Saturday afternoon at Bath a few years ago and he very confidently called two photo finishes before the judge -on both occasions he was wrong which he seemed to think was a scream.I think the first rule of working in the racing media should be to treat punters with respect.
 
Big Bad Bob was doing Ffos Las tonight and was joking about having 30000 to win 10000 on the fav in the maiden -needless to say it was chinned.
 
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