Willie Carson

Emma Spencer is not bad for those post race interviews - she tends to let the jockeys say their piece .

Lesley Graham undoubtedly also needs the order of the boot . Lydia and Steve Mellish lack the touch probably for terrestrial TV, Willoughby is knowledgeable but so far up his own arse it is untrue , McNae too dull . Yates prolix .

Actually , I think Jason Weaver is much the best of the jockey pundits and has a sense of humour . Gary O/Brien is good but surely would not come over . Ted Walsh is an arse . Nevison might be OK he has the punter in the street touch

Knowing how imbecilic the producers of these programmes are we will probably end up with the same tossers with Peter Naughton as the new face !
 
Last edited:
They're too knowledgeable and not communicative enough for "the masses" on RUK although their Qipco Champion Series videos have shown they are up to the job to be fair.
 
Gamla Stan said:
I know he's a very shrewd punter but he doesn't show it on C4 one bit!!
Click to expand...

He's very forthcoming when he's had a bet and I respect him for that. A contervertial ride on Storming Home when a beaten fav at York being a good example. You'd go broke laying him, therefore I can't understand why anyone would not want his opinion. When he was on Timeform radio he was top class too.


.
 
Last edited:
Gamla Stan said:
They're too knowledgeable and not communicative enough for "the masses" on RUK although their Qipco Champion Series videos have shown they are up to the job to be fair.
Click to expand...
This is where British racing fans are being shortchanged. (Likewise football fans.)

TV producers seem to think it's better to have 'personalities' take us through events rather than people with proper insight. Hate him or hate him, Carson was a brilliant jockey at his best and is extremely knowledgable so I can put up with his buffoonery and occasional lapse of memory.

I'm a wee bit uncomfortable with Mick Fitz discussing Flat racing, likewise Francome to a degree, but they know a horse when they see one (as do Carson and Balding).

What I cannot abide is the inane dumbing-down witterings and sensationalist interjections of the non-racing 'personalities' like the pachydermic oaf that does the BBC betting along with the Laurelesque Parrott.
 
Desert Orchid said:
This is where British racing fans are being shortchanged. (Likewise football fans.)

TV producers seem to think it's better to have 'personalities' take us through events rather than people with proper insight. Hate him or hate him, Carson was a brilliant jockey at his best and is extremely knowledgable so I can put up with his buffoonery and occasional lapse of memory.

I'm a wee bit uncomfortable with Mick Fitz discussing Flat racing, likewise Francome to a degree, but they know a horse when they see one (as do Carson and Balding).

What I cannot abide is the inane dumbing-down witterings and sensationalist interjections of the non-racing 'personalities' like the pachydermic oaf that does the BBC betting along with the Laurelesque Parrott.
Click to expand...

Wish I'd come up with that final sentence. Deadly accurate, too.
 
Desert Orchid said:
THate him or hate him, Carson was a brilliant jockey at his best and is extremely knowledgable so I can put up with his buffoonery and occasional lapse of memory.
Click to expand...

He is not "extremely knowledgeable" at all. His knowledge of the formbook is shockingly bad

Regarding Jim McGrath, whenever I put C4 on, he just tips favs up blind!

I'd have Balding and Luck presenting RA together next year with Hoiles, Chris Dixon (Excellent on RUK) and Darley doing the analysis (like someone said, he wasn't bad at it and he's disappeared), Holt commentating, Tom Lee and Tanya doing the betting and bring back James Sherwood for the fashion. :D
 
Grey said:
Carson deserves to be taken seriously when he is appraising horses in the parade ring, and he's also good on the breeding side.
Click to expand...

Is Willie Carson all that knowledgeable about breeding? One of his classic lines on the BBC was that stamina comes from the dam. This statement belongs with the Bruce Lowe figure system and telegony. Phil Bull said that nothing of value has been written about breeding and little has changed. One reason the pattern was introduced was to give breeders and buyers of bloodstock a guide to the relative strengths of races across Europe when making their purchases, implicitly indicating that these people cannot make a form judgment of the higher class races. Considering the colossal sums involved in bloodstock this is amazing. The ‘black type’ system is also ludicrous but that is another story. In the end the combines with the best horses will produce the best progeny. You could mate a Coolmore stallion with anything and that dam will have a better chance of producing something decent. Mate the best with the best and hope for the best as the old timers used to say.
 
Willie Carson doesn't know anything, about anything. Form or Breeding. Even if he makes a good point about how a horse looks (he doesn't), he is probably referring to the wrong horse so it's all a bit pointless.

The worst yesterday was John Parrott, when So You Think won and they were reviewing the SPs - 'One for the pro punters there'. That is probably the single most stupid comment I have ever heard from the BBC (a big call, I know).
 
Anyone who's ridden nearly 4,000 winners ought to know what he's talking about - though I do wish Willie would stop telling us Joseph O'Brien reminds him of Lester.
He's tall, and he can talk without moving his lips, but come on, ffs.:)
 
Breeding does seem to a large extent to be a matter of fads and guessing, a bit like all those theories about diet, but nevertheless some people are better guessers than others, and some people have a bit more to say about it than others.

By the way regarding your mention of Bruce Lowe's figure system and telegony, are you sure you're not confusing him with Bruce Savage?
 
Hamm said:
The worst yesterday was John Parrott, when So You Think won and they were reviewing the SPs - 'One for the pro punters there'. That is probably the single most stupid comment I have ever heard from the BBC (a big call, I know).
Click to expand...

:lol:

The only pro punters that would have backed SYT would have had to have taken the 6/4 in the morning with Hills which you wouldn't have got on to any size at all.
 
It's absolute bollocks to suggest that sporting achievement can in anyway relate to broadcasting ability about that sport. Every broadcaster makes the same mistake with every single sport.
 
Cricket is the only exception as in listening to Hussain, Atherton and Botham is an education. Funnily enough it is the sport with the least hype as well.
 
Back
Top