ITV Line-up revealed (officially)

I can remember when Peter O'Sullivan and Clive Graham handled the BBC coverage on their own.
ITV had 4 or 5 and I considered them overstaffed.
Bad though Fitz is Harvey is worse btw.

This just proves doesn't it that the powers that be in this industry take absolutely NO NOTICE WHATSOEVER of the opinions on this forum (call me naive, but I though they might have done on occasions) otherwise they wouldn't be employing certain 'presenters' for this ITV attempt at next year's TV racing coverage.

We might as well all pack up and give up posting our opinions on here.

As long as the actual racing action is shown in high quality with decent commentary I don't give two hoots about all the between race fluff and nonsense.
Brough Scott is a very fine journalist but has never really been suited to live TV - Alistair Down is/was much better imo.

So just the 17 salaries to pay then

Make that 18, you forgot Johnson who is the 2nd commentator.  I hope Ed's mates at Sky football have left a key out for him because ITV racing will be a disaster.

give it a chance that's the problem to downbeat! new faces is always good and some you're only going to see half a year am looking forward to it

They should have brought World of Sport back.

Who has choose that lot I would be interested to hear the reasons.

thought it was a creepy clown list

But we need to know who is responsible for making these selections in advance,as when the new program self-implodes in a year or so,these criminals need to be exposed so that they are never invited to partake in any other horseracing enterprises.
Please someone name and shame these clearly incompetent individuals as soon as possible,and get Jeremy Paxman to interrogate each to justify the reasons for each appointment.
Surely Mike Dillon is not the only culprit here,who are his other co-conspirators.

Lucy Verasamy is the only good thing in that line up (nap)

i thought yifter was getting a gigg
read 2 things in the papers this week that made me pish with laughter
fitzy does homework before his interviews and he likes to take a few days off a week to improve his performance, LOL

was suprised to read in richards hughes column bigging up balding and fitzy,that he loved getting interviewed by balding because she,d tell him the questions beforehand so he could get his replys ready and new he wasnt going to get hit with a grenade live on air,which obviously shows why her interviews were full of platitudes and ego massaging and completely pointless

Fitzgerald/Turner/Harvey. A complete joke

ffs I cant believe Fitzgerald has got the gig

I quite like Luke as he doesn't take himself seriously at all (nb)

and I could listen to Fitzy's soothing nasal tones all day

verasamy she giving the going reports

I don't care what she does,

very nice to look at

Quite horrendous. A nightmare come true as far as I'm concerned.  I won't be watching any of it.

So just the 17 salaries to pay then

Hard to understand why ITV have gone for such a big team, safety in numbers or something (?) A couple of names like Pendleton and Dettori probably useful to try and draw in a wider audience. Turner and Plunkett would have left them out, so overstaffed anyway, and sure viewers would like to see the same regular faces. Or maybe they are planning a smaller team in the future, see what works and what doesn't.

It started so well with Ed Chamberlin and Francesca Cumani, betting reporter Matt Chapman was also a good choice. Anyway, give it a chance.......

Fitzy

theres that many people on all the racing channels that within a month you,ll forget its changed channels

theres that many people on all the racing channels that within a month you,ll forget its changed channels

It would seem that ITV have more clowns than Fred Karno.

You know its bad when peeps praise the return of the unctuous drivel that is Brough Scott.

At 74 years young Brough must be giving the 76yo Big Mac hopes of a return.

As we speak Alice is carefully making out her list of what jockeys' legs she's gonna feel up

The extraordinary thing about the UK racing media is that even with 17 or 18 names on that list, there's probably at least twice as many again out there seething that they're NOT on it.

How did UK racing ever get itself into a situation where it haemorrhages so much money to so many talentless personalities?

Big Mac just tex me and sayed market forces

haley any horse trained on the heath especialy fanshawe
gleeson any horse trained by obrien
fitzy any horse trained by hendo
plunkett any horse as long as its conygree or cue card.

expect incisive unbiased analysis from all of the above, NOT,

Just watch ATR  and RUK and stop worrying yourselves about ITV showing racing now and again.

At least it sounds like new ITV viewers won't miss out on the Fitzgerald gems, such as last Saturday's beauty 'Frankie likes to sit in second place, as he knows all the other runners will need to pass him if they want to win'

He should have his own thread , "Fitzgerald Balls".

When I saw the line up laid out in its banality this morning I nearly choked on my breakfast.

And under "Experts" the name Mick Fitgerald. That enough is reason for me to give it the thumbs down!

Far too many people. Hopefully it will mean lots of coverage but it will be dumbed down stuff which is no bad thing. Proper racing fans already use the 2 dedicated channels so terrestrial racing is more of an entertainment product to try and capture people with a passing interest in racing. If they stick a few bets on and take more of an interest, then it's good for racing.

Channel 4's coverage was neither one or the other and was in many cases dull. Chapman has the potential to keep people watching as he is different and entertaining and whether you love or hate him, you have an opinion on him.

poor old Emma,

how will we cope without her fake joy when interviewing winners

It'll be axed before the summer.

weaver is good but harvey and turner?..........they have lost the plot here.......harvey is ok but he is too much of a clown to be on terrestrial TV.

Luke Harvey is good value,

doesn't take himself seriously at all which is good to have against the stuffy upper lip brigade !

Harvey I can take. He doesn't take himself too seriously.

Can't understand why Ed gave up Sky football to get involved with this lot.  Perhaps Sky have kept the door open for him knowing that ITV racing won't succeed.

ed give up the football because he thought pressing endless replay buttons on a machine was a cv for winning la liga,was gutted when he realised the likes of carra,neville souey etc had been feeding the elephant strawberries for 2 years and his nickname was DUMBO,

Might as well put Hannity, Morrison & Sigsworth into the mix & and we have the royal flush ....or is it a full set of jokers!!

Nicholas Godfrey is by far the best form analyst out there but he seems to concentrate on american flat racing

ITV,CH 4,RUK,ATR  cover racing in a whiter than white attitude[probably most corrupt sport in the world ],the same way they,d cover a programme about the city and didnt believe insider trading,libor etc excisted,

Let's shed a tear for poor old Enzo!

A little bit of honesty would be welcome but isn't going to happen...when some of these horses (particularly Irish) win with no form whatsoever but are backed from long odds to favouritism they merely suggest a well executed plan has come together but s0d the punters who have backed other runners

Unfortunately it's a perennial problem because the punter is the outsider looking in and is expected to fund the sport for the benefit of those on the inside

i can only think that mr mccoy cost too much.

I like Nick Godfrey (not true that he posts as ELG on here), speaks a lot of sense and I love his accent (reminds me of Harold Steptoe!)

I do not wish to be negative, let's hope for the good of the sport that ITV make a reasonable go of it. But.. has anyone for example witnessed Ms Turner's performances on ATR? Wooden, no capability for television presenting, ten tons of make-up. She is (was) an excellent jockey, but looks like included by the diversity division.

Just glad I don't see Cunningham's name in there. Hayley is a poor addition but hopefully they won't be asking for her opinion too often.

No Cunningham or Nick Luck, two of my favs.......What idiots are running this show?

No Nick Luck tells me everything I need to know about that mob.

Clueless and destined for failure.

Nick Luck was T.V Gold for me.....Just how thick are that bunch....Doomed i tell ye.....Doomed.

Lucky is wasted on racing anyway, shirley he should be presenting something like Sale Of The Century or Blockbusters!

Can I have a P please Nick?

i think they ought to rename it -carry on racing- for the life of me i can"t see how this lot will bring racing to the non punter?

can you name anyone not on the new itv racing team ?

how many people do you need ??

Twit fitz!!!!! Oh dear :-(
Will need a ready supply of mute buttons lol.
Has there ever been a more dull droning clown on racing tv EVER!!!!

been said a million times tv can not entice non race fans into the sport, turn it around i,m an  avid sports fan with bt,sky etc, but there is absolutly nothing including a cash inducement that would get me to even casualy switch on to watch speed skating,badminton,handball etc,its passed on by family,friends workmates etc and no amount of sexing up a racing programme will change that ,for starters most of the big days are on the same time as football,cricket,rugby,golf

telephone
17 Oct 16 16:17
Joined: 10 Jun 11
| Topic/replies: 2,316 | Blogger: telephone's blog
poor old Emma,

how will we cope without her fake joy when interviewing winners Crazy



No loss there. Clueless but no Jimbo?  Top man who has made a living out of the game.

I forgot to add that there's no Cunningham either??? The two most knowlegeable pundits and they aren't given a spot?

I will give ITV a wide berth next year.

We will have to wait and see but my concerns would be with Mick Fitz - no originality and bores yer tits off - Victoria Pendleton - what does she know ? - Hayley Turner - shudda stuck to riding cos her ATR performances are mediocre - Luke Harvey - cannot take him serious.

whats vic P going to talk about?........this is a joke surely.

morpteh mackem 17 Oct 16 19:38 Joined: 05 Jan 04 | Topic/replies: 27,878 | Blogger: morpteh mackem's blog
can you name anyone not on the new itv racing team ?


McGrath
McGrath
McCririck
McCoy

And that's from just one page of the phone book. UK horse racing has literally more TV "personalities" leeching a living from the game than it has racecourses.

gold now


Christmas Celebrity Bullseye with John McCririck and Linda Lusardi

Hey, after about 40 years, maybe we'll get the ITV 7 back again!

@GEORGE.B -- Lucky is wasted on racing anyway, shirley he should be presenting something like Sale Of The Century or Blockbusters!

Can I have a P please Nick?

Wandering off-topic but Bob Holness used to say he saw the change in the zeitgeist when the laugh moved from "Can I have a P ..." to "Can I have an E please, Bob?"

ITV sports coverage has always used too many presenters and pundits, so while disappointing, this line-up is no real surprise.

bring back dickie davies and 'on the ball' with brian moore. plus some grapple action from gravesend with kent walton and saturdays would  be complete

They missed a trick in not recruiting Barney as the form supremo.

I think we need to look at ITV programming in general.

Who are the highest paid people Ant and Dec. Let's be honest Weaver and Harvey are funnier and have at about 1 brain cell extra each so who knows they may be on Britain is Talentless in 12 months time.

Fitz is there because he said winning the national was better than sex. They can roll that one out each year on the biggest viewing day. He says turd often which will appeal to the base ITV viewer as amusing.

Plunket good company for the producers staying away? Cannot think of any other reason.

ITV will, however, be employing a number of individuals currently attached to the sport's soon-to-be ex-broadcaster, with Mick Fitzgerald, in particular, set to be prominent throughout the year.

Spotlight Guide and Ratings for the all new ITV Racing Team

Richard ‘Ratpack’ Hoiles (Rating, 9) – consummate professional, has an extensive knowledge of sport and sporting philosophy.  Ratters understands how to engage an audience with an entertaining yet concise commentary style.  The UKs leading horse race commentator and a good capture for ITV.

‘Oily’ Bell (4) – proof incarnate that nepotism rules in British Racing.  Gone from tea boy to presenter at RUK, bluffing his way through each and every racing day.  At times strikes a remarkable physical similarity to a young Alan Partridge, hopefully one day soon he’ll drive to Dundee in his bare feet and stay there.

Mick ‘Ditzy’ Fitzgerald (1) – popular amongst his peers but causes a feeling akin to sea sickness in anyone else listening to his clichéd, uneducated spew.  One would think that a once accomplished jockey would be able to talk lucidly about the sport but he fails on every level to inform, educate or entertain.  Likely to single handily destroy any chance ITV Racing has of success.

Alice ‘Dunkett’ Plunkett (2) – can often be found in a frantic state after racing, asking anyone (who doesn’t run a mile on her approach) if they know where she has parked her car.  Far more organised in her interviewing technique, asking the same stock questions during every interview, heaven help her if she ever loses that postage stamp she has the questions written on.  Another nepotistic appointment and an utter waste of space.

‘Richtea’ Persad (6) – often belittled due to suggestions he has earned his success through the ‘diversity’ ticket, a suggestion that is grossly unfair.  Very strong in an anchor or continuity role Richtea has the ability to engage an audience without being patronising.  The BBC and C4 racing teams both failed to recognise just how valuable Richtea could be, hopefully ITV will utilise his strengths and not ask him to ‘multi-task’ where he isn’t comfortable.

Hayley ‘Head’ Turner (3) – or not.  Once fine jockey who was superior to many of her male colleagues.  Arguably been under utilised by British Racing, the BHA should have made her a focal point for the marketing of the sport years ago.  Perhaps Hayley’s subsequent appearances on ATR explain why that never happened, a wooden on screen presence that sends viewers into a soporific state of no return.  More likely to get viewers heads shaking than turning, just hope for some improvement but viewers should not under any circumstances hold their breath on this one.

Jason Weaver ‘Shark’ (6+) – Another ex-jockey but one who actually understands how to convey useful information to an audience.  For some reason Weaver Shark seems to prefer playing ‘Hardy’ to Luke Harvey’s ‘Laurel’ in a toe curling slapstick double act, rather than branch out on his own as a serious racing pundit.  However he is a rarity in that he can engage both the serious racing enthusiast and the punting man in the street.  Could be a very good signing for ITV and rate higher but the jury will have to remain out for now.

‘Puke’ Harvey (5+) – Arguably the worst jockey to ride under rules in the last 50 years, picture the Harry Enfield jockey sketch and there you have it.  Not a blue blood like many in the team, more the runt of the litter.  Luke doesn’t act the clown as he is a clown, jumping out at viewers on ATR with an unsettling gurning expression.  However his appointment might just work when one considers how chemistry, conflict and flawed characters underpinned the success of the Channel 4 racing team of the 1990s.  Luke does have the ‘common touch’ and the ability to engage and frustrate in equal measure.  With his sense of humour and Weaver at his side he could potentially draw in a non-racing public which is more than most of team will do.

Brian Gleeson (4-) – hard to know what Gleeson brings to the table.  Perhaps he will take the role of bookies stooge, interviewing bookie reps and relaying stories of fantasy bets ‘laid’ by the firms.  Perhaps his inclusion is for ‘t’Oirish’ angle but surely there isn’t that much he could contribute as information is widely available all over t’internet.  More likely Brian is there just to reassure viewers bewildered by Mick Fitzgerald that not all Irish people are daft.

Sally Ann Grassick (?) – who?  OK just Googled images, now I understand.  It is likely Sally is there to reassure viewers bewildered by Mick Fitzgerald that not all Irish people look and sound like him.  Seem to remember that she used to hack round the racecourse on the odd mount; hopefully Sally will prove to be the dark horse of the team with a big future.

Lanfranco ‘Frankie’ Dettori  (7) – sporadic appearances on racing programmes over the years suggest Frankie is a very good appointment here.  The public love him and he also appeals to the racing enthusiast, his unpredictable behaviour can only enhance the viewing experience.  Strikes one as someone who doesn’t suffer fools gladly, something he will have to overcome as part of this team.  Fingers crossed ITV don’t make him stand on a box and morph him into the new Willie Carson.

Victoria Pendleton (3) – smashing lady, very popular with the public and with good reason.  What she is doing as part of this team heaven only knows, once her limited knowledge of horse racing is exhausted she runs the risk of becoming a parody of a great Olympian, let’s hope not.

Lucy Verasamy (?) – ITV weather girl, will add some much needed class to this shower.  Will almost certainly provide weather reports that contradict the forecast available via the BHA website and other weather related media, thus confusing both experienced and novice punters alike.  Viewers will be lambs to the bookies slaughter with the bewitching Lucy leading the way.

Ed Chamberlain (8) – Ex Sky football anchor and racing fanatic.  Has the skills and knowledge to become the second best current TV horse racing presenter (behind Lyds obv).  Presumably Ed had a significant input into the membership of the ITV team, which could prove his undoing.  Jobs for the boys is all very loyal and all but sometimes Ed you just have to be strong and jettison the deadwood, you could have removed Fitzgerald from terrestrial screens which would have won you immediate plaudits and potentially a Knighthood (even HM hits mute when Ditzy appears, a split second late and those corgis howl).

Sara Cumani (5+) – has form presenting C4 Racing back in the day but has been absent for years, they never come back after such a layoff, do they?  So posh she is unlikely to appeal to the public but as one of the ‘racing establishment’ adds some much needed credibility to the team.  Perhaps Dunkett has in reality been employed as her valet (although she would be 1.01 to mess that up)?  Viewers are likely to see an impressive return to action from Sara but let’s hope she holds her form and doesn’t ‘bounce’ in exasperation of her lesser team mates.

Matt ‘Tangoman’ Chapman (8+) – the marquee signing who could make or break the whole shebang.  After years of dull betting reports on C4 by the hapless bookies stooge Tanya ‘The Female’ Stevenson we finally have a passionate racing fanatic who can genuinely fill the shoes of Big Mac.  Tangoman tells it how it is and is far more interested in transparency than protecting reputations.  Hopefully he will be utilised at set pieces outside of the betting ring as Matt is also a very knowledgeable and entertaining interviewer.   Very much a ‘Marmite’ character at first encounter but capable of winning over the doubters.  His agent will no doubt be busy as a consequence of terrestrial TV exposure, watch out for Tangoman opening a betting shop or Nisa Supermarket near you soon.  The long term aim for Matt will be to appear wearing giant orange skiddy y-fronts in a reality TV house on another minority TV channel...

Brough Scott MBE (6) – a very shrewd signing here and one that demonstrates that despite evidence to the contrary ITV are taking this project seriously.  There is no one better to guide ITV and Ed than Scott, who will provide valuable off camera assistance as well as his network of contacts.  We have to trust that Scott is not here to (impossibly) fill a ‘Noble Lord’ role but to provide set piece insights into the sport and forthright views on the Political side of horse racing.  Definitely better in print than visual media nowadays but Scott remains a horse racing journalist of the highest calibre.

Mark ‘Shouty Man’ Johnson (4) – wakes every morning wearing a cowboy hat and a burning resentment of not being born an American.  Everything this man does he tries to Americanise in one way or another, including his much maligned commentaries.  In fact his commentaries are technically first rate, building the tone and tempo of the race to a shouty crescendo where the winner will be christened ‘by far the best’.  Sadly though his commentaries in no way relate to what is actually happening on the track, you may as well be watching Kabbadi for all the sense the commentary makes to the action, which is a pity.


VERDICT – perming together the higher rated members of the team into a raceday outfit could pay dividends and make an entertaining ITV racing programme, sadly though this is unlikely to happen.  Ed will always want to play his very own ‘Djimi Traore’ as he just doesn’t see where the weakness lies.  ITV racing will likely be consigned to the dustbin should Bookie advertisements be banned during the show (as rumoured).  Likewise the regular inclusion in the line-up of Ditzy, Dunkett, Oily, Head Turner and Pendleton will also result in an inevitable death, albeit a slower one as viewers turn off in droves till only Ed’s Sky+ remains.

sara cumani.
francesca cumani been doing a excellent job presenting aussie racing.

Thunder: hope you were joking when you hailed utterly pompous Brough Scott as a possible saviour  of the already doomed ITV experiment. May we please not forget that this arch Tory vilified the stall handlers' efforts to get a decent living wage, declaring that market forces should dictate what the wage should be, despite the jockeys (even the top ones) declaring their support for the striking handlers, not least because they were worried about their own safety if the handlers were replaced by nightclub bouncers whose only only knowledge of racehorses was gained in the local bookies.

Well Brough and his scummy Tory Arena pals succeeded in sacking the lot and then rehiring the desperate handlers at massively lower rates.

One of Racing's most shameful and darkest deeds!

Oops - thanks Ash, just sacking my researcher, perhaps they can get a job with ITV racing?

Francesca Cumani (5p) – Daughter of one of the greatest flat trainers of all time Luca, Sara has form presenting Australian racing but is a relative unknown to most UK viewers (Aviboyd included).  Very glamorous and ever so posh she is unlikely to appeal to the bottom scratching betting shop dweller but on breeding alone adds some much needed credibility to the team.  Perhaps Dunkett has in reality been employed as her assistant (although she would be 1.01 to mess that up)?  Viewers are likely to be treated to lady of substance and intelligence who is not a cliche riddled, analogy spouting contagion like her predecessor Claire Balding.

Oily looks like a young Scott Walker imo!

Brough Scott, saviour? A disgusting little man!

Whats disgusting about him?

Everything.

Very annoying when people say Chapman tells it as it is. He does when its foreign jockeys or apprentices. When does he ever point out a poor ride from his Twitter buddies or trainers like Elliott who he's 'just got a text off'?

it's hard not to notice the same people constantly attacking the same racing media characters,

ok we get it, you don't fkn like him, enough already.

As previously stated, no Jimbo or Cunningham will leave the well dry when trying to get a proper 'write up' of any race imo.

stewarty b.......surely you know the fav and 2nd fav have a good chance in every race........why do you feel the need for those 2 to tell you the bleeding obvious........if anything wins in double figures those 2 are stumped

The cast are Inclusive and Diverse, well done ITV.

Brough Scott must be at least 80 ffs.

We should all be overjoyed that despite much sycophantic rambling and shameless brown nosing of ITV the odious Derek 'Toilet' Thompson (time form squiggle) has been kept away from this project

The Top 10 Shocking Omissions from the ITV Line-up

Hugh Taylor (nap)
Nick Luck
James Willoughby (Flat)
AP McCoy
John McCririck
Jonathan Neeson (NH)
Lydia Hislop
Jeff Stelling (I remember when he used to present The Winning Post !)
Ged Egan
Kevin Blake
Gary O'Brien
John Berry

I'm sure you will all agree, a thoroughly well researched, flawless Top 10, with no shocking emissions!

George...good list though I love big mac think his days have gone

my ideal lineup would be ed c\nick luck\richi p............presenters..............don't mind chappers in the betting ring..............and steve mellish and possibly either james w or hugh taylor as form analysts

Cardiff: don't worry about lovable  Big Mac being omitted - if all else fails the Hairy One can always return to his 'Have Bicycle Will Travel' Super Glue venture

there,d be a power outage after people panic for the off button if james,w or berry were allowed to vent their piffle onto the great unwashed

Hang on, I forgot about Ken Pitterson for expert paddock analysis, make that a Top 11

will Gok and James be making their annual (apt eh) displays imo

Oh, I REALLY hope they drop this dreadful fashion thing and just concentrate on the racing!

Quite clearly the line up isn't of much use to anyone who is a punter. With the exception of ratpack who i guess won't be used as a pundit, there is nobody else with an opinion that's worth listening to. I'd much prefer to listen to Eddie Fremantle or Jonathan Neesom (or even John O'Connell, David Cleary etc). But then I'll be watching RUK along with plenty on here.
ITV don't need form experts, they need to attract a wider audience. Therefore there are a few on the list who are not of much interest to me but who will do a good job (Chamberlain, Cumani, Dettori, Chapman etc). Obviously no idea what Fitzgerald is doing on there and Nick Luck is a glaring omission but perhaps we'll see more of him back on RUk.

Will they resurrect the ITV7 bet I wonder?

not unless there covering 7 20 runner handicaps,

It is most likely that the best candidates for itv roles were approached...but declined,after perusing the new line-up.
Francome,Luck,Hislop,and even McCoy (who was probably 1st choice but unfortunately having declined left the door open for Fitzgerald to enter as the NH expert), are notable absentees.

rothman.........would like to see the list of people they approached and the ones who had an interview

Mully - I asked exactly the same question earlier in this thread.

At least they omitted 2 that most seem glad to see the back of and they are Derek Thompson and the Tanya Stevenson.

whats the point of the interview ,theres hrs and hrs of coverage out there to show what they can do and bring to the tv,but you can guarentee that all those interviewed came across as the next david frost,dimbelby,in most walks of life these days interviews have zilch to do with a persons suitability to do a job,

If Mick Fitzgerald was interviewed, could they make sense of his answers ?

r martinzez interview was to explain what tactics he,d use to overturn belgums defeat in the euro,to the man in the street all rather pointless if the opposition manager isnt there to say how he,d counteract it,but thar ya go,the bloke in charge before him probably got the job saying how he,d reverse the previous managers defeat, mind boggling