Voices of Racing...

Today's post is going to be a tribute to a number of individuals who were - or at least their voices were - a big part of my life when I was growing up.  Horse-racing has long been a staple of British TV, regularly being shown live, year-round, and the well spoken and very gentlemanly commentators are totally unique.

The main reason for this post is yesterday's passing of one of the true commentating greats...

As I mentioned above, British horse-racing commentators are a special breed; they seem so suited to the "Sport of Kings".  Well-educated, and softly-spoken, they are unlike any other sports commentator.  In the days when we had just two television companies - BBC and ITV - sport was a main feature in the battle for ratings, and horse-racing was particularly prominent.

Yesterday brought the passing of the man known as the "Voice of racing" - Sir Peter O'Sullevan.  Sir Peter died at his London home after a long illness.  He was 97.

In 1944, O'Sullevan became the Press Association's racing correspondent.  In 1997, the great man retired after a 50-year career at the BBC.  He also spent 36 years as racing correspondent for the Daily Express.  Always sporting a small pair of binoculars, it wasn't until 1997 that O'Sullevan revealed that they had been taken from a German U-boat during WWII!  Also that year, he became the first sportscaster to receive a Knighthood.

Sir Peter was the last - and perhaps the best - of a generation.  Here are some of the other racing legends of my childhood...

John Rickman (1913-1997)
The first man to present horse-racing on ITV, Rickman too, was a perfect gentleman, but always possessed an incredible air of amiability and fun.

John Lawrence, 2nd Baron Oaksey (1929-2012)
A British aristocrat, Old Etonian, and former amateur jockey, John Oaksey (as he was usually known), joined ITV while still in the saddle.  He also worked for Channel 4 television, BBC radio, and the Sunday Telegraph.

Raleigh Gilbert (1936-1998)
Like John Oaksey, Gilbert worked for both the BBC and ITV, although he is much more closely associated with the latter.  One note of interest is that Raleigh Gilbert was the first person to commentate at EVERY racecourse in th UK.

Julian Wilson (1940-2014)
Son of sportswriter Peter Wilson, Julian was BBC TV's racing correspondent from 1966 until 1997, and a regular commentator alongside Sir Peter O'Sullevan,