John McCririck, Derek Thompson, John Francome, Mike Cattermole and Racing Post writer Alastair Down dropped by Ch4

CLARE BALDING and Nick Luck will head Channel 4's new-look racing coverage from next year

Graham Cunningham, a regular on Racing UK, and At The Races presenter Gina Bryce have been added to the team, which will also include Rishi Persad, Alice Plunkett, Emma Spencer,

Thought anyone

I cant believe Francome has gone

Absolute joke...persad man. How was your holiday pj?

amazing place Rich thanks would highly recommend dubrovnik

alot of negotive feedback in the racing post comments about ch4 racing

Is this serious?? Please, please say this is a joke?! How could you drop McCririck and hire someone like Balding, she is awful! I never watch BBC racing because of Balding, Persad, or Jim McGrath and now they all seem to be on C4. I cannot believe they have dropped Francome, or any of the others. Can someone tell me where the actual racing info is going to come from now??? I can't see anyone on that list who actually knows anything about horses, racing or current affairs, or life in general. Disgusting.

I'm still banking on this not being real!

I think I read that Mick Fitzgerald has also been added to the list of presenters but I think he is the only one with any real insight.

Im also dissapointed that Francombe has gone, he was one of the only one's that talked sense, but unfortunately it looks as though they are dumbing down to try and attract more viewers, like the entire industry is tbh.

Francome chose to leave he was not dropped. I hope they got Jim McGrath the commentator on board, IMO he's the best in the business. Can't stand nick luck though. Shame Alastair down and cattermole have gone, but I think Alice plunkett should have gone, she's only in there because of her husband. I can understand why mcirick was dropped, I don't think his male chauvinist ideal was one theywanted to promote as the image of their new setup, the fact his wife is known as 'the booby' says it all really.

Personally I think there are problems with both BBC and Channel 4 teams. From a commentating point of view I would take Simon Holt over Jim McGrath every day of the week. From a Broadcasting point of view I think Balding offers more than Thommo, Spencer, Cattermole and Carson, Not a Nick Luck fan but can see the appeal. I don't think Persad is even really worth a mention.... Would prefer him to go help present golf or snooker or some other sport I don't tend to watch. As far as knowledge, I don't think you can look past Jim McGrath of Timeform and John Francombe and would prefer them to Graham Bartlett and Ray Cochrane. Mick Fitz would be a good addition to the Channel 4 team!! Also would like to see Tanya Stevenson stay.

At least Emma Spencer is there for a bit of glamour on the bright side.

Keep Emma for the eye candy definitley. The rest of them should be on performance related pay for their so called "tips" every Saturday morning with the "lowest profit making" one of them dumped every month, now that would keep us interested!!!

mmmm emma spencer
love her

ya just heard francome didnt want the busy schedule he would be on with new tv rights shame liked him
his tips were brutal though the only tips i took off morning line were Jim Mcgrath's (Not The Comm)
the rest just brutal tipsters i no tanya always picks alongshot which pays of once in a blue moon fair play to her
but the rest i would not even listen to there tips

McCririck should have been dropped years ago so he's no great loss. As Ubar said, Francome chose to leave out of loyalty to High Flyer Productions but his partner in crime Jim "Timeform" McGrath is still there. I would guess that Graham Cunningham has been brought in as a straight replacement for Francome and will form some sort of new double act with McGrath.

As far as presenters go, the biggest loss is Alistair Down who imo is much better than both Balding and Luck. At least Balding, and us viewers, won't have to put up with wee Willie Carson anymore. Spencer is there for eye candy, Plunkett is there for God knows why and Persad's inclusion is probably beyond the comprehension of the Almighty Himself.

At least they have 2 decent commentators in Holt and Hoiles.

McCririck, Thompson and Cattermole had to go. They know hardly anything about racing. Thompson seems like a lovely bloke but his commentary is awful as is his knowledge of horses. Cattermole talks a good game but really he's clueless and the amount of times he has called the wrong horse in running over the years got past embarrassing.

Francome is a loss as he understands horses and knows a lot about the game as well.


But out of the new lot im not excited about any of them really. Cunningham I think does talk sense and Fitzgerald could be ok but his voice is a bit annoying sometimes. McGrath is the main one as he consistently makes money backing horses. I dont understand how any sport production company chooses TV people over people with a great knowledge of the sport. That nob on ITV being a great example.

The only good new face is Cunningham, Fitzgerald is useless.

At least that crook Tommo and Cat are gone.

Nick Luck, Jim Mcgrath and Graham Cunningham, forget the rest.

John McCrirrick and John Francome should stay and get rid of Persad, Balding and the useless Emma Spencer. Simon Holt is a great commentator. But with McCrirrick going that is bad he made C4 racing for me.

Getting rid of Francome will deprive the public of down to earth opinion from a legend and a very well informed person
Get rid of Emma Spencer