Who Is Your Most Annoying Race Commentator?

Grasshopper said:
Cattermole misses too much, and is too laid-back to ever adequately convey the drama and excitement of a top-class race, imo.
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I am not saying he is a great commentator but a lot of the others shout far too much at the end of a race. It just sounds hysterical and I don't mean funny.

Nick Luck in paddock when talking to camera, you can hear him in the stands. I wish someone would tell him not to shout, that's what the mic is for.
 
Plenty of competition with this. Cattermole should be presenting only not commentating. I hate the sound of Bartlett's and Owens voices but one I find particularly irritating is one of the newcomers to the roster Tim Peters. He has far too much opinion, why can't they just commentate on what's happening instead of constantly passing their opinion of things?
 
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Dante said:
I hate the sound of Bartlett's and Owens voices
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Same here. Bartlett in particular has quite a harsh, nasally tone. I know the important thing is do they describe the action accurately and with appropriate but not OTT enthusiasm, but an unpleasant voice really puts me off. Compare them with e.g. Richard Hoiles, who is probably my favourite commentator at present (it was nice to see/hear him getting the commentating gig for the main meeting for the last two weeks on C4; I presume Simon Holt has been on holiday).
 
Noel Reid as racing pundit on RTE in the early 1980s was as bad as it got for me until he was replaced for a few weeks by Jim Kearney ( GAA commentator for Connaught games )
Graham Goode's "putting the pace to the race " is up there with "Early doors "as reasons to visit my dentist as they hurt my fillings.
Brian Gleeson can be a tad too enthusiastic at times but that may be a "pot and kettle" scenario coming from me.
I enjoy the rest as they do a better job than I ever would.
 
To be fair to Dessie half the time he's got green & gold hoops with - red cap, yellow cap, quartered cap, white cap, green cap, blue cap, orange cap, trilby, cowboy hat (one of Meade's) & beret.

Martin
 
There's a chap who commentates on P2P's at Barbury Castle - if there's a 12 horse race you're doing well if 10 of the horses he's named are amongst the decs.

Makes you love all the Rules commentators equally, including the French ones I can't understand.

Martin
 
I may be getting old but none of them still come close to Peter O'Sullevan in his pomp - now there was a commentator who knew how to build atmosphere and excitement - league of his own still .
 
There was a thread similar to this on TRF in 2009 I think. The guy who did the King George that year was my pet hate..I think his name was Lee McKenzie.

I din't like his style at all because he would be talking about some horse in 19th place and by the time he got back to the leaders all had changed up front.

When you were listening on the likes of Timeform Radio he was annoying as hell.

I posted stating as much on the forum next thing I got a PM from the man himself and an email from DC saying I should apologies or some **** like that.

I either ignored them both or I told McKenzie I was sorry but you're still fooking rubbish........anyone know what the dipshit is doing now?...hope he's not on the board of directors here lol
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Ardross said:
I may be getting old but none of them still come close to Peter O'Sullevan in his pomp - now there was a commentator who knew how to build atmosphere and excitement - league of his own still .
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We're all getting old mate and the great thing about Sir Peter was he had a great voice like he was born to listen to. Whether he was a s tenically good as some of today's guys is another matter but this guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoPSBC_G-P4 is technically brilliant. He read a race really well, spots things all the way round others miss, can tell when a horse is travelling well, has a pleasant tone and I don't even know his name????????? That's how old I am getting.......what is his name?
 
Can't stick Shouty even if competent - Lee Mackenzie was terrible used to be on Radio 5 Live as well
 
Having to listen to Dessie Scahill the last few days just confirms what a terrible commentator he really is. I think someone else has pointed out that he just continually lists 1st to about 8th after every single fence (he can't get any further down the field because they're already jumping the next fence when he must of course start again). God forbid you've backed a hold up horse because it simply won't get a mention unless it comes to challenge at the last.

There's absolutely no observations about how well or badly any horse has jumped a fence, no mention about how any horse is going and no mention of any horse gaining or losing places. To round off the week I've just had to listen to him calling Regal Encore Royal Encore for the entire way round.

Like Murray Walker & John Motson he is way past his sell by date but has become such a fixture that we just have to put up with his ineptitude until he retires.
 
TheBear said:
Having to listen to Dessie Scahill the last few days just confirms what a terrible commentator he really is. I think someone else has pointed out that he just continually lists 1st to about 8th after every single fence (he can't get any further down the field because they're already jumping the next fence when he must of course start again). God forbid you've backed a hold up horse because it simply won't get a mention unless it comes to challenge at the last.

There's absolutely no observations about how well or badly any horse has jumped a fence, no mention about how any horse is going and no mention of any horse gaining or losing places. To round off the week I've just had to listen to him calling Regal Encore Royal Encore for the entire way round.

Like Murray Walker & John Motson he is way past his sell by date but has become such a fixture that we just have to put up with his ineptitude until he retires.
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Agree. Dessie is a complete joke as a commentator. Just watched some of the replays and decided to have some nice music on rather than the commentary after hearing him refer to Bells Life instead of Bellshill plus several mispronunciations
 
I don't like Bartlett, poor commentator.

Calling Thommo a **** is out of order, as someone else said, he might be a bit of a plonker but a thoroughly nice bloke.

Malcom Tomlinson should get more gigs, possibly my favourite commentator.
 
Aragorn said:
Calling Thommo a **** is out of order, as someone else said, he might be a bit of a plonker but a thoroughly nice bloke.
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Being a nice bloke does not exclude someone from the possibility of also being a ****. Although i suspect that the less I say on the subject the better....
 
simmo said:
Being a nice bloke does not exclude someone from the possibility of also being a ****. Although i suspect that the less I say on the subject the better....
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Depends what your definition of a **** is I suppose
I can't say I've ever came across anyone in my life who I found to be a bit of a **** but at the same time a nice bloke.
 
Dessie shockingly bad even for him this week . Cattermole endlessly inaccurate - Shouty far too fond of the sound of his own voice and thinks he is far better than he is - mute button time . I tend only to watch Channel 4 if Shouty is commentating from the main meeting on RUK.
 
Cattermole made a serious balls of a commentary at Windsor last Monday-completely missed Spencer getting into contention on an Osborne horse-about 50 yards he realised his mistake and announced him as the leader.
Not good enough to be commentating.
 
Simon Holt and Richard Hoiles are streets ahead of the rest.

I agree that Dessie is awful and has been for a very long time. I simply can't listen to him anymore.
 
It shouldn't be forgotten that commentators have an audience at the track as well as those listening in betting shops and at home.

In my experience, Johnson's commentaries go down very well with racecourse crowds. I've been at many a Doncaster meeting, especially jumps meetings, where that's been crystal clear.
 
gus said:
It shouldn't be forgotten that commentators have an audience at the track as well as those listening in betting shops and at home.

In my experience, Johnson's commentaries go down very well with racecourse crowds. I've been at many a Doncaster meeting, especially jumps meetings, where that's been crystal clear.
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He is top notch, of that there is no doubt.
 
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