Ahead of the Ebor Festival at York next week, myracing decided to investigate the top TV figureheads in the sport.
Martin Dixon’s stock has risen as a pundit in recent years, and the shrewd Yorkshireman, who runs successful syndicate ‘The Horse Watchers’ with brother Chris, came out top of our poll by a huge margin.
The former Timeform writer showcased his broadcasting credentials nine years ago when discussing why Frankel was their highest-rated horse of all time, and regular mainstream TV could beckon for him soon based on our study.
Nick Luck recently commentated on Equestrian and Dressage for the BBC at the Olympics, and the former Channel 4 Racing presenter came out on top of our research, which is based on positive tweet volume and mean sentiment scores.
Simon Holt and Richard Hoiles are like Messi and Ronaldo in the racing commentating world and, although there was little to split the pair, it was the former who just came out on top.
Holt’s famous “Stradivarius- Three Gold Cups!” line in June 2020 received plenty of social media acclaim, and he is still the ‘go-to’ man for all of the big races on terrestrial TV.
Lydia Hislop isn’t afraid to ask the big questions, as proven in her interview with Nicky Henderson about Altior during the National Hunt Season, while Tom Stanley came third in our poll.
Ruby Walsh can be quite opinionated and despite only being a part-time pundit on Racing TV and ITV, the Irishman finished second in our pundits’ poll.
Popular ITV/Sky pundit Kevin Blake was in fine tipping form at Cheltenham and Royal Ascot, but could only claim the bronze medal on this occasion.
There are also honourable mentions for the likes of ‘marmite’ pundit Matt Chapman, who finished fifth in our tally, and Francesca Cumani, who also snuck into the top five ahead of Irish presenter Gary O’Brien.
According to the stats, punters’ dream combination for an afternoon in front of the box would be:
Presenters: Nick Luck, Lydia Hislop
Commentator: Simon Holt
Pundits: Martin Dixon, Ruby Walsh, Kevin Blake
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