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
