Irish Sports
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01 Feb 12
15:52
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30 Jun 07
Richard Pugh on duty at Down Royal today is very good and significantly better than the established duo (Scahill and O'Hehir) Peter O'Hehir and Peadar Flanagan are seriously dissapointing while Jerry Hannon is accurate and brings lots of detail to a race.
Its a pity we don't get to hear more of Pugh who continues to impress. A commentator is a race reader as well as a race caller and the established Irish Duo rarely read the races with the kinda comments we get from some of the UK's top race callers. Pugh and Hannon are much more about this type of style and are different gravy to both Scahill and Tony O'Hehir. In their defence it has to be said they'be been magnificent down the years but you get the impression they've become stale and lack the ability to re-invent themselves.
P.S Amazed no one has mentioned Davy Russell stopped riding for few strides after the last on BEEF TO THE HEELS in 2-35 and got mugged by STATION MASTER who had the momentum at that stage..I'd say Russell went a neck or half a length down near the line but rallied to get beaten a head ! !
Its a pity we don't get to hear more of Pugh who continues to impress. A commentator is a race reader as well as a race caller and the established Irish Duo rarely read the races with the kinda comments we get from some of the UK's top race callers. Pugh and Hannon are much more about this type of style and are different gravy to both Scahill and Tony O'Hehir. In their defence it has to be said they'be been magnificent down the years but you get the impression they've become stale and lack the ability to re-invent themselves.
P.S Amazed no one has mentioned Davy Russell stopped riding for few strides after the last on BEEF TO THE HEELS in 2-35 and got mugged by STATION MASTER who had the momentum at that stage..I'd say Russell went a neck or half a length down near the line but rallied to get beaten a head ! !
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Replies: 25
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Tony o hehir is useless these days, he is out of breath after 2 flights of hurdles, you would swear he is riding the horses!!
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I think in all walks of life guys become stale at their profession after a while and those in the Public Domain need to be constantly improving themselves,that applies to Commentators and Jockeys' alike..
Nina alost fell off after becoming the meat in the Sandwich at Down Royal..Serious Mare I'd say and you'd imagine will be even better on good ground. Most impressive bumper winner seen in Ireland I'd say and the second is a fair yardstick.14 on Betfair for Cheltenham Bumper.... |
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a very boring sounding comm is richard puke
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Dirty footballer, kicked the ankles off me one day playing football.
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IMO HE IS VERY INFORMATIVE AND FAIR PLAY HE WAS QUICK OF THE MARK TO MENTION THAT THE 6TH WINNER IN A ROW @DOWN ROYAL ALL CAME FROM P2PS
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Agreed I thought it was sharp articulate and well informed commentary !!!
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a poor mans jerry hannon
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I prefer commentators to stick to calling the race myself rather than offering their opinions and telling there stories. Some of the new breed in the UK would stop a train with their views on how well one is travelling. I often watch with the mute button on with some of them. I do agree Richard Pugh and Jerry Hannon are very good.
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Pugh's fan club never take long to come out. Pity that they always seem to mistake blather for accuracy.
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Do you honestly think that Pugh isn't ahead of Dessie and Tony at this stage TRTL (and don't let any possible working relationships cloud your answer)?
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Very good commentator - knowledgable on all aspects of racing from rules through to points.
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If you want a good new commentator from the UK then listen to Gareth Topham when he's calling under rules (think he's on the roster for training this year), top commentator and know from his p2p calls that he'll travel anywhere for a gig. Nice lad too by all accounts.
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allduck, why bring Tony into it? When's the last time he did a racecourse commentary? As to your question, no he isn't. Even at this stage and taking his errors into account I would have Dessie any day over Pugh. Ask any professional in the game who does race reading or comments in running based on Pugh's commentaries who they would prefer if you think I have an axe to grind.
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I certainly don't know any Proffesionals who base their in running notes from Dessie Scahills comments. Nice man Dessie but hardly a top judge and a light of former days in commentaries. Was excellent at his prime but sadly no more ! Its knowing when to bow out is what seperates the Great from the Good ! Richard Pugh is superior to Dessie at present and is far sharper than you give him credit for !
Irish people seem very reluctant for change ! |
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pugh wudnt polish jerrys mike
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Accept JERRY HANNON is good but Pugh a close second ! In the UK today Arab Racing Commentator Gary Capewell is making his Southwell Debut
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The biggest revelation on this thread is that professional race readers/comment writers use commentaries to guide them when writing their trip notes.
Jerry Hannon would be my pick. Dessie said himself in a recent interview that he only works as he needs the money after getting badly hit by the banking crisis. Pugh sounds good to me, though his constant mentioning of point-to-point links is a bit unnecessary. |
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Here's my take as a regular racegoer on various people's opinions at the races of the TV/Radio/Racecourse commentators. NOT MY take on it.
1) Peadar Flanagan. Not clear at all. 2) Jerry Hannon. Too exciteable when the winner is six lengths clear at the last! 3) Tony O'Hehir. Never heard an opinion. 4) Richard Pugh. Clear and concise when given the chance. 5) Dessie Scahill. Makes a lot of mistakes and doesn't give the jockey's silks colours. ( My take on the mistakes would be that he does far more commentaries than the others so it seems more noticeable. Not too many mistakes of late imo) |
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TRTOL I brought Tony into this because he is the lead commentator on Irish terrestrial televison coverage and is therefore pertinent to the topic. He is the voice of racing to the non serious racing fan who only tune in when RTE are covering the sport on the marquee days. He has an audience of several multiples to that of the oncourse commentator and in my view the current situation is a disgrace. He sounds incapable of providing an interesting and coherent performance and this is what is being beemed into thousands of households. Do you think that is going to entice people to come racing if thats what they believe they have to look forward to listening to?
Well it may well be true that the writers do rely on the commentator when writing comments prefer Dessie over Pugh. I don't know any so cannot argue against it. What I do know is that I sure as hell wouldn't like to be relying on Dessie when he is working at a nondescript midweek meeting. It's not an exaggeration to say that he misses fallers and gets mixed up between runners on a constant basis. I agree that he can be good on the big days (Hurricane Fly's win in Punchestown in 2010 springs to mind)but he sounds apathetic and laboured at the run of the mill meetings. Also if the racing pro's prefer him then that amounts to not more than a handful of people working at any one meeting. The vast majority of ordinary punters are sick and tired of him. You are hardly going to say that the reporters preferences carry more weight than those of the general racing public now are you? *Notwithstanding any of the above Dessie has given great service to the sport and I believe he is also engaged in much charity work which deserves plaudits |
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Allduck, I only brought the racing pros into it because you suggested I had a personal axe to grind. And they don't necessarily rely on the commentator when doing comments and the like, but what is needed is the commentator to be accurate and reliable because when he isn't it just causes confusion and makes the comment writer second guess himself which he doesn't need.
Strange as it may seem to the more casual observer and for all the errors he makes, Dessie is still the more accurate and more reliable of the two. Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. |
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Tony O`Hehir is a great commentator
Dessie Scahil is very poor Jerry Hannon is excellent Richard Pugh is excellent Peadar Flanagan is an imposter The commentator is there as a guide no serious racegoer relies on them. As an aside Allduckandnodinner seems to know everyones identity on here and lets everyone know he knows. |
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I suggested you might have had a problem with Pugh because its the first time i've heard anyone say he's an inferior commentator than the others. I have also heard that he can be an awkward enough fella at times and thought it might stem from that. However you have set me right and it's simply your point of view. I largely ignore the commentary unless i'm at a p2p or watching ATR but from what i've seen I find him to be quite accurate and prefer him and Jerry Hannon to Dessie any day of the week. Then again I don't write racing comments or rely on the accuracy of the commentator in general. It's something i'll keep an ear out for in the future but I still remain dubious.
Wildman I heard before than TRTL may be someone who would be familiar with the persons in question. He is about the only person whose identity I am aware (or a least I think I am anyway) of on here apart from one or two I know personally. |
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Pughs constant mentioning of point to pointing is completely unnecessary and quite irritating.He mentioned that the first six winners at Down Royal on wednesday had graduated from the points,well Richard i cant place Code Of The West ever pointing anywhere,can you?.Some of the other winners links to the pointing world were quite tenuous also.Because of his close links to the points and the fact that he ultimately benefits from this warped notion that the points are the breeding grounds for all things great in National Hunt racing,it is easy to see why he is constantly harping on about it.Saw where he had the temerity to say in the pull out section during the week that the big prices paid for pointers was starting to look like money well spent,listing a handful of horses who had won lately while conveniently ignoring the dozens of six figure flops that we see almost every day plying their trade.
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The fashionalbe way to impress people is just to keep talking. It doesnt matter what you say, just keep going. Look at the racing industry in Ireland and Britain and the way its presented. With one notable exception, everyone just talks and talks. They say nothing and constantly repeat themselves. But it sounds great and increasingly, they getting the gigs.
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Hardlyuseless gets it. Verbal diarrhoea can disguise so much and can sound so good. Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised at the amount of people who can't see the difference.
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