NOT SO GOOD - Sporting Post mailbag

www.sportingpost.co.za/2013/11/21/mailbag/good-mate/

Not So Good On You, Mate!
Last updated on: November 21st, 2013

I had the pleasure of travelling on business to the US, the UK and Australia in October and being a horseracing fanatic I used every spare minute to enjoy their coverage of the sport.

What struck me first was the excellent exposure racing enjoys in the print media. Newspapers in all the countries mentioned make a big deal of horseracing and the public seems to have a natural appreciation for it, unlike here at home.

But those countries are also faced with strong competition in the gambling and leisure market and they’ve risen above it to new levels. I believe one should always be constructive and therefore I don’t really wish to slate any personalities on our own racing channel Tellytrack but I must say that in my opinion our studio presenters and on-track presenters can simply not be compared to the professionals overseas.

Ours are in a different league. A very moderate league, generally speaking. Off hand I find it hard to think of exceptions. We can all get to watch the Australian interviewer Johnny Tapp on his program that gets to show here. He is the consummate professional, much like the football host in the UK, John Dykes, people like Jerry Bailey in America, Mike Cattermole, Derek Thomson and Zoe Bird in the UK.

What sets them apart is a few things I looked up on google to explain myself. First of all they are completely in control of their subject, racing. They know as much, if not more, than the individuals they get to interview, and they know racing inside out. Our so-called professionals are obsessed with bragging about the occasional winners they manage to tip and few of them know anything about a horses physical conformation and how the they should look when cantering to start.

They make fools of themselves. A good presenter should be eloquent. Some of ours can barely read properly and make countless mistakes pronouncing names. A case in point was Charity Mile day when surely better presenters could have been used, it seemed like every Tom Dick and Harry got a chance.

A good presenter is confident with a good body language, able to understand and engage with his or her audience and sharp too, not making attempts to be funny and having digs at colleagues.

Also I must say that if I hear ‘Good on You Mate’ once more after an interview I am going to throw a brick through my big screen. This expression sounds fine in Australia, not in South Africa. We should be nurturing and training our own, local talent, instead of giving airtime to mediocre foreigners!

Our magazine programs leave a lot to be desired too. Well there really is only one, ‘Winning Ways’, although the TAB website still advertises Monday night’s Keeping Track as a feature, I think that stopped a few years ago!

As for Winning Ways, I enjoy the humour but the overall show is pretty bland, the set is slapped together and it is standard fare compared with anything overseas. We need more in-depth interviews and documentaries to educate the public, we see them here once in a while but not enough.

I am sure there are many who share my views and I appeal to the authorities to dump the irritating and the poor. Let’s find and showcase some real talent and promote racing properly so it can grow. We must strive for excellence and we will get it and the game will prosper!

Racing Lover, Durban – Via Email

I read this the other day and seen him quote the names Thomson, Catermole and Bird, and stopped reading


Thomson and Catermole are useless

hibernia Wrote:

---

> I read this the other day and seen him quote the
> names Thomson, Catermole and Bird, and stopped
> reading
>
>
> Thomson and Catermole are useless


He was talking relatively !!!!.............lol

Whoever wrote that letter obviously does not appreciate the oncourse presentations... Dave Mollet Stan Elley Dees Dayanand and Vicky Minnot are top notch.... As for those boring British.... Ah well they just boring..... South African pre race and Winning interviews are tops and the world should follow us....

trouble is Telly Track don't broadcast the post race interviews .....so can't comment on the standard

Stan elly is rubbish, he is the only presenter who regularly does not
Ask the connection's about the other runners on the day

Its seems to me that trevor noah has got it correct when in one of his stand up shows, he's says to the effect, the rest of the world goes in one direction and south africa goes in the complete opposite. Laid off the punting for a few weeks recently, but watched the coverage, and it left a lot to be desired, it was boring, we don't get winning interviews and the build up to races is very rushed. But kudos to the people in the cape, I found vickys interviews pre race delightful, I actually picked up the phone and took a bet on dekock after watching her interview with brett crawford, got back 500 rand profit.

vicky tipped me captain america on thursday at the rtr gallops...although i tried to convince her my red ray theory blah blah blah....she sticked to her choice and well done to her

most commentators not many's cup of tea but who else must do it ?
any suggestions barring the old retrenched presenters?

As for the guy that wrote the letter to the editor of Sporting Post, I don't know what he is talking about as far as the U. S. coverage goes.

What is he smoking?

There are now so few full time Turf Writers writing for daily newspapers that they can be named on the fingers of one hand.

The number of writers has dwindled to such an extent that Churchill Downs took down the press box and now sells expensive admission there and what few writers remain watch the race on a TV monitor!

Most of the copy generated is publicity department re-writes.

We have two TV shows on racing, they are redundant and the stuff spewed from the mouths of the presenters is of such quality that most regulars watch with the mute button on.

I have always found the So African coverage for racing better than in the U. S. based on the number of tracks open, the number of horses in training and the budgets involved.

Could it be better? Of course.

But be thankful for what you've got.

The biggest mistake is Phumelela turning over publicity and promotion to the Racing Association.

If The Big P does not have the interest to promote the sport, they should sell the enterprise and turf it over to people that still have the passion for the sport.

Not sure who the nameless Durban punter is?
He has a point but good in bad in all places, I find that Singapore, Hong Kong have world class camera work, presenters and callers
Plus not so sure about P handing marketing to RA?
I am sure the Summer Cup has been well marketed and expect the biggest crowd in years, it might not be a racing purist crowd but the same can be said about the Met and July

So come racing and judge for yourself

Dave they are spending huge money on attracting people to the course that in all likelihood are there for the party will not spend a cent and wont be back,the die hard punter who largely suffers in silence but continues to support the industry is completely ignored and not rewarded for the loyalty shown against all odds,the Sansui drive is nothing but a juiced up version of "rent a crowd" and while they boast of doubling attendance on the day in a few years they are missing the point and that is how many new punters have they attracted that contribute to pools in the year that follows..the answer I'm sure is zero to miniscule...if they really want to get their ducks in a row then they should start looking at the folk who have had active Telebet and tote accounts or those who visit the races on a regular basis and give them a Summer Cup day on the house.. the huge crowd that will be at Turffontein this weekend will consist of people that have no clue of how to bet let alone what to bet...

Titch Wrote:

---

> Dave they are spending huge money on attracting
> people to the course that in all likelihood are
> there for the party will not spend a cent and wont
> be back,the die hard punter who largely suffers in
> silence but continues to support the industry is
> completely ignored and not rewarded for the
> loyalty shown against all odds,the Sansui drive is
> nothing but a juiced up version of "rent a crowd"
> and while they boast of doubling attendance on the
> day in a few years they are missing the point and
> that is how many new punters have they attracted
> that contribute to pools in the year that
> follows..the answer I'm sure is zero to
> miniscule...if they really want to get their ducks
> in a row then they should start looking at the
> folk who have had active Telebet and tote accounts
> or those who visit the races on a regular basis
> and give them a Summer Cup day on the house.. the
> huge crowd that will be at Turffontein this
> weekend will consist of people that have no clue
> of how to bet let alone what to bet...


So why can us 'ooutcasts' see it, but they can't :S