Probably due to horse racing’s close association with gambling and horse racing odds in general, you often find that its presenters/pundits are either loved or loathed by the viewing public as a whole.
Best Horse Racing Pundits:
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Ruby Walsh
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Katherine Ford
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Stephen Power
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Gary O'Brien
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Rishi Persad
Here are FIVE pundits that we at 888sport believe are worth a listen:
RUBY WALSH
When it comes to National Hunt analysis, Ruby Walsh comes second to none.
After riding 2,756 career winners (59 at the Cheltenham Festival) Ruby now fills his time with a host of media commitments including punditry for Racing TV, the Irish broadcaster RTE and several other outlets.
Never a fence sitter, Walsh may not have ridden as many winners as his horse racing counterpart Sir AP McCoy, but he certainly beats him on the mic and Ruby Walsh net worth estimates have him rivalling his old foe too.
KATHERINE FORD
Katherine Ford moved to France in 2001 for a three-year stint in the Paris office of the International Racing Bureau.
From there she joined French racing channel Equidia and now heads their international department, a role that took her to some of the world’s more exotic racecourses.
Katherine is now based in Luzarches, France and is currently an on-track reporter at Sky Sports Racing, bringing experience from her previous roles at PMU/Equidia and International Racing Bureau to our screens.
English viewers find her very relatable as she speaks French very well but with a slight Yorkshire tinge.
STEPHEN POWER
Stephen Power – aka the Racing Blogger, is definitely a marmite character when it comes to the world of horseracing punditry.
Having risen from total obscurity to gracing the pages of the Racing Post and amassing several thousand “X” followers due to his content, Stephen carries on undaunted and literally gets where water can’t when it comes to global horse racing meetings.
Stephen’s online profile reads “creator of the best digital media content horseracing has ever seen” and despite having never written a horse racing blog in his life, his interviews with racing greats such as Aidan O’Brien, Willie Mullins, Andre Fabre, have been an unqualified success.
GARY O’BRIEN
Anything you want to know about Irish Horseracing, Gary O’Brien is the man to consult.
O'Brien is a broadcaster and racecourse commentator who, in January 2019, was appointed lead presenter in Ireland for Racing TV.
Gary started out with Irish Racing Services before coming over to the UK to take up a voiceover role with SIS in 2002.
He was part of Attheraces’ on-course team from 2004-2018 and during that time was dubbed "the voice of Ireland".
RISHI PERSAD
Rishi began his racing broadcasting career in 2002 when Attheraces was first launched.
Since then he was worked for Racing TV, Channel 4, and the BBC in a racing capacity and has covered a whole host of events including The Prix De L’Arc De Triomphe, The Grand National, Cheltenham Festival, Derby Festival and Royal Ascot.
The Olympics, Commonwealth Games, tennis, bowls, cricket and golf, Rishi has turned his hand to presenting them all. He’s a great all-rounder.
Other Famous Horse Racing Pundits:
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Nick Luck
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John McCririck
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Lydia Hislop
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Laurent Barbarin
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Angus Loughran
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Leonna Mayor
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Mick Fitzgerald
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Derek Thompson
Of course it’s all unwarranted criticism at the end of the day when all these people are trying to do is go about their daily profession. A little bit more respect for them wouldn’t go amiss.
Here are some of our favourite horse racing presenters/pundits, both past and present:
Nick Luck
Whilst many members of the horseracing media were being furloughed and put out to the long grass in 2020, Nick Luck’s telephone was ringing off the hook with new job offers.
This of course was testament to the fact that in the new streamlined racing media world, bosses wanted one of its most recognisable faces to be at their helm.
The seven-time HWPA Broadcaster of the Year signed for a major bookmaker early in 2020 as their new flat racing expert as well as taking on several other projects.
Nick is an integral part of Racing TV and NBC Sports’ television coverage. He has been at Racing TV since its initial launch in 2004.
Ruby Walsh
12-time Irish champion jump jockey Ruby Walsh comes over as being a veteran of the broadcasting world even though he only hung up his racing boots in 2019.
In 2010, horse racing broadcaster Racing UK signed a 30-year-old Ruby Walsh as their channel ambassador and he has effectively never left!
After riding 2,756 career winners (59 at the Cheltenham Festival) Ruby now fills his time with a host of media commitments including punditry for Racing TV, the Irish broadcaster RTE and several other outlets.
You’ll also see him giving out all the latest Cheltenham racing odds when the Festival is taking place.
John McCririck
Sadly no longer with us after passing away in 2019, John McCririck was the “punters champion” for many a long year through his media work.
Famously known for standing in the betting ring (the “jungle”) and bringing Channel 4 Racing viewers all the latest horse racing odds, John’s sports broadcasting career on television spanned four decades.
In 1984 when Channel 4 took over TV’s terrestrial racing coverage, John went on to become the most recognisable character on Channel 4 Racing for 29 years.
Appearances on Big Brother and Celebrity Wife Swap brought John notoriety among the wider general public, but it was his famous on-screen tussle with Barney Curley in 2005 that most racing fans remember.
Lydia Hislop
Lydia was a long-standing columnist for the Times and London’s Evening Standard before she became a pundit and presenter on Racing UK when it launched in 2004.
Now rebranded as Racing TV, Lydia sees her role on the channel as working on behalf of the curious fan. She regularly conveys to the viewers what’s going on at a racecourse, what’s just happened and might happen in the future. It’s the perfect watch!
Lydia also has other racing related interests. After sitting on the BHA Flat Pattern Committee for 16 years, Lydia now chairs that grouping.
Laurent Barbarin
Laurent Barbarin is a regular face on Sky Sports Racing and covers all the French action on the channel.
His journey through horse racing has taken him all over the world from his home in France. After spells in France and Ireland learning how to train horses, Laurent joined Godolphin and worked there for seven years.
Small training jobs in Kentucky and Japan followed until Laurent returned to France to become a racing consultant. A presenting/pundit role with Equidia ensued before Sky snapped him up in January 2019.
Laurent is the perfect French horse racing betting guide for any new follower of the sport in France.
Angus Loughran
Although no longer a racing pundit in any official capacity, Angus was a very good one when he worked for the BBC as their “betting expert” for a period of 12 years.
In what I have always regarded as Angus’ pièce de résistance, the famous odds man presented a Grand National preview programme on BBC2 on the eve of the 2020 race in which he gave a good nod and wink to the viewers for the Ted Walsh-trained/Ruby Walsh-ridden Papillon.
The morning after there was a massive plunge on the Irish horse and it duly obliged later that afternoon with Angus saying afterwards “The whisper started to go round last night and just snowballed. It is one of the biggest-ever gambles in a major sporting event."
After fatefully ending up in the same cab as Angus heading to Aintree a few years ago, I managed to thank him for that year 2000 heads up in person.
Leonna Mayor
Since quitting the saddle Leonna has carved out a new career for herself on the small screen. The former Flat rider is enjoying roles on WHTV, Sky Sports Racing and fairly recently, ITV Racing.
As an Australian contemporary recently wrote in the Herald Sun “English jockey Leonna Mayor is on fire after making the switch from the saddle to a television studio in a boom time for women in racing”. He’s not far wrong.
Mick Fitzgerald
Mick is currently a pundit on ITV’s horse racing coverage and he cut out his new role in the horse racing sports media after being forced into retirement in 2008 aged 38.
He also reports for Sky Sports Racing is still closely involved in racing through the management of several ownership syndicates.
Mick’s crowning glories were winning the Grand National aboard Rough Quest and the Cheltenham Gold Cup on See More Business.
Derek Thompson
Derek Thompson, or 'Tommo', is one of the most recognisable voices and faces in the horse racing media with more than half a century of experience behind him. He’s one of the old school horse racing commentators for sure.
After initially working as a presenter for both ITV and Channel 4 in the 1980’s, the veteran performer is still a studio anchor on Sky Sports Racing as well as him doing some radio work for the BBC and Talksport.
Catchphrases such as “Photoooooooo” and “Are you well? – I thought you were!” have given Derek plenty of notoriety with the youth element in recent years.
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Alamy*
