Ian Bartlett

Only one I mute, can't bear his loud harsh voice.

Shrill drill

Never trust a posh boy who uses clipped slang.

Correct give trill the budgie.

The commentators telling you the colours early in a race are doing it for themselves instead of learning them pre-race.

rofl forums full of people moaning at the demise of racing and when a commentator tries to help people identify where their horse is, he gets abuse!

Feraday isn't bad but there's a lot better away from Equidia.  I like Stephane Costas who commentates for France Galop.

I don't think most of you actually saw the race in question - no surprise there.  This was the Gr. 1 12f Grosser Preis von Baden, one of the top middle distance races in Europe.  Only 6 runners, it shouldn't be difficult should it?  they only have 1 job to do.

He called Spanish Eyes, a 3yo filly, correctly for about 1 furlong, then suddenly switched to Straight.  I know why, they run in the same colours, but Straight is a 4yo colt who finished 3rd in the race last year, maybe he commentated on that too, and got mixed up, but he wasn't in the race this time.

He was lucky to get away with it as Spanish Eyes held every chance and might have been involved in the finish, but just her 4th start not quite good enough on the day. He called her Straight all the way to the line.

6 runners?.. come on..

personal view having met him

clearly enjoys his job and works hard, if they make the odd mistake it's to be expected, try it or let us know when you have a gig

i like his tone and delivery esp on the french stuff where sometimes he gets away with having a laugh and says things he might not about uk racing, can be quite acerbic

when i spoke with him he was really helpful and polite when he was actually really busy as he was covering for r hoiles and i spoke with him again a year or two later and again really nice guy just doing his job and was really sharp and i liked him as a person

we all have favs or not so favs because certain things irritate or help with what we do on here but in the scheme of things does it really matter? just enjoy the racing and give the guy some slack, i'd be inclined to think he'd be his own worst critic as would most of them, they are professionals and don't aim to fck up, just happens

aye and ar$e is def in brassneck

To be fair you don't need to have met the guy to have a view on his commentary, good or bad.

I've always had to mute Darren Owen, his calls sounds like he's sneering. But I heard him in normal conversation previewing the Ebor the other day on Radio 5 and he sounded perfectly fine. So none of this is about anything other than commentating style, and certainly nothing to do with anyone's character, (although I stand by the appearance of pretentiousness of foreign intonation- Revo-loo-thiohn)

I'm sure he's a very nice guy, but that's not the point.  I've just watched the replay and he calls it Straight from when the stalls open.

Ruined the commentary really, but they do all make mistakes it's true, some shockers.  A viewer is entitled to feel irritated by it though.  Some horses you follow, you keep track of, watch the replays.
You might even be connected with the ownership.

A bit like rico and metal detector

As a commentator, who also mentions colours during races, I could probably write an essay on the whys and wherefores. Not all viewers are the same, and I'd say the majority do like this approach. Maybe there is an element of 'getting your eggs in order', but it's doing the same for the viewer before the closing stages unfold.

I always find Bartlett clear and concise. Mistakes will always be made and they have no chance pleasing everyone with their style of commentary.
It's s tough gig where imo the majority do a decent job.

Ps, always feel Alan Howes should get more gigs. It doesn't matter to him whether it's a 1/2 or 50/1 shot winning his commentary is based on all the horses, they way it should be.

Thanks Smokey. You said I'm 'not bad' earlier and I'll take that, mostly we just get slagged off on here.

Smoky Hill 03 Sep 24 07:59 
I wish they'd hurry up though, in sprints, they spend the first furlong telling us the long winded name of the race, and who is in last place, by which time they're at halfway before you know who's in front.


David Coleman once spoke of a trick he used when calling a 100 metres final, as everything happens so quickly he said he'd spend the first 10 metres or so saying something like, "and it's a level start" or such like, just to give himself a couple seconds to process who's leading and contesting before he calls the race properly.

just on the french german stuff and i know it doesn't apply to your initial point, but they are calling this stuff from the monitor in a studio as far as i know unlike the uk on course guys

im not sure whether that's easier or harder as i've always wondered if they have multiple camera shots on diff monitors or they get just what we see as per the director which is often not giving wide angle closers etc?

DD. All the French stuff is called from  a studio except for the Arc. Calling more than one meeting a day. German is done from the track but still using monitors as we aren't in the stands.