Wednesday, 9 January 2013

THURSDAY JANUARY 10th RACING POST 2013. McCRIRICK SUES OVER 'AGEIST' C4 AXING.GRAHAM GREEN BRINGS US NEWS YES, YES, YES


RACING POST THURSDAY JANUARY 10th 2013
WEEK MONDAY JANUARY 7th to SUNDAY JANUARY 13th 2013


 
 
PREVIEW TODAY'S CARDS

 
Graham Green
McCRIRICK seeking £3m in C4 legal action
FORMER Channel 4 betting pundit John McCririck is seeking £3 million in damages after launching legal proceedings against the broadcaster over his axing from its racing coverage.
 
"McCririck, who claims he is the victim of ageism, was among a number of popular and
 long- established personalities to loose their places on the presenting team after Channel 4 awarded the four-year racing contract to IMG Sports Media in preference to preview partner Highflyer. McCririck was ‘devastated’ when the decision, which in effect ended his long and colourful career on terrestrial television, was announced in October and he has decided to pursue Channel 4 and IMG Sports Media through the courts.

 
“It is not known whether any of his ex-colleagues who also lost their jobs in Channel 4’s revamp intend to follow McCririck’s lead, but Derek Thompson last night said he would be watching development s closely.

“Along with McCririck and Thompson, Mike Cattermole and Alastair Down were also deemed surplus to requirements in the new-look Channel 4 line-up that appeared on screen for the first time last week. John Francome had already ruled himself out of contention, while Lesley Graham has taken up the appointment as chief executive of Racing Welfare. McCririck  has done much to broaden the appeal of racing, and his forthright opinions and bizarre dress sense made him instantly recognisable to the general public, as did his two appearances on Celebrity Big Brother.

“McCririck declined to be interviewed yesterday, citing legal constraints, but he released a statement saying: “After 29 years with Channel 4 Racing, on a rolling annual contract, I have been sacked without any consultation or cogent explanation, I  am 72.

“For loss of future earnings, unfair career damaging, public humiliation, stress and mental anguish, I will be seeking  £500,000. Ageism is illegal. For tens of thousands of employees it has become the feared scourge of our society. This litigation should prove to be a watershed.

“There’s no upper limit to the amount of damages employment tribunals can award under the Equality Act 2010.
 
“I am seeking a further exemplary, punitive £2.5m, part of which will be donated to charitable organizations helping to prevent negative prejudice in the workplace.”
 

“McCririck said he was being represented on a no-win no fee-basis by employment and sports law specialist solicitor Stephen Beverley, of the London-based Cavendish Legal Group.

“Thompson, 62, speaking from Dubai, where he is commentating this week, revealed that the possibility of taking legal action against Channel 4 and IMG Sports Media has been discussed privately within his family circle, but that it had not advanced beyond that stage.

“Thompson said: “I’m in the same boat as John and it will be interesting to see where he goes with this. I will certainly be giving John a ring to chat about it.”

“Cattermole, 51 said: “if you were to look at it dispassionately, it is interesting that of the seven presenters who are aged 50 or over, only one (Jim McGrath) was offered a contract. Admittedly John Francome walked away, but the other five of us were not offered contracts. If John can make a few quid for charity then good luck to him.”

“A Channel 4 spokeswoman said yesterday: “We are grateful to John McCririck for his contribution towards the success of Channel 4 Racing over many years. However, we reject the suggestion that discrimination on the basis of age played any part in the decision not to renew his freelance contract and we will be vigorously defending this claim.”
“IMG Sports Media declined to comment.”
 
ALASTAIR DOWN ON SATURDAY'S
(RP Saturday January 5th 2013)
 
“TWO EXTRAORDINARY VISIONARIES  WHO SHOULD NOT BE LOST TO
THE RACING GAME.
“RACING is not so heavily laden with serious brains that it can afford to do without its brightest and brightest and best talent. Yet as we sail blithely into 2013 we somehow no longer have Edward Gillespie or Andrew Franklin on board, let alone having the benefit of their sure hands on the tiller.
“For once I can claim some knowledge as I speak having worked with -or- for- both men for more than 20 years.
 
“Franklin, who extended the sport’s reach and did more to popularise the game than virtually anyone else in 25 years at Channel 4 Racing, lost out in a straight commercial fight to IMG. A man with a clear vision of what the broad spectrum of the racing public wants, he is also a master of the politics of the sport without ever being sullied by its more murky and Machiavellian methods.
“One always prides oneself on being able to see a couple of stations further down the line, but Franklin can see a good eight stops ahead and tell you what the terminus will look like – it’s called vision. He also inspired loyalty in the likes of John Francome and Jim McGrath, who can both spot a set of emperor’s new clothes at 50 paces. Franklin has always been a supporter of the puppyishly enthusiastic Rod Street, supreme and chief illusionist at Racing For Change, and Franklin’s wise old head would immeasurably strengthen both RFC’s effectiveness and credibility. Franklin in a consultative role at least, would add substance and blow away some of the froth.

“Gillespie’s departure is harder to fathom. Suddenly, out of a clear blue sky, Britain’s most successful sports impresario –and a man still fizzing with energy and ideas –ups sticks and exits stage left.

“His departure promptly a laudatory editorial in the Times, an honour expected by prime ministers but less often by managing directors of racecourses.

“So how did racing come to loose a man held in such high esteem in both Britain and Ireland and by common consent among our liveliest minds?
Cheltenham, racing’s biggest cash cow, is increasingly carrying the Jockey Club brand and perhaps a desire to bring in more ‘in house’ and to heel led to a parting of the ways. The track is the jewel in the Jockey Club’s racecourse crown. The wizard who made it so – the Faberge of the festival – was Gillespie. Happily, before he left, Gillespie managed to blow the ludicrous idea of qualifying races for the festival out of the water, but that is just the sort of wisdom we will miss.

“The idea he might be lost to racing lies somewhere between the lamentable and the plain depressing.”


Equus Zone
J Margaret Clarke Turfcall Comment

It was the British Office of Fair Trading who called the Jockey Club to account. Looks like the Office of Fair Trading now need to act to call the Jockey Club to account yet again over all the issues Alastair Down presents above.

 It is the Courts and the Office of Fair Trading who need to act to put a stop to the shocking way loyal, popular, successful broadcasters and presenters are being sacked after decads of loyal service,  of working to bring horseracing to life over decades. It was the bloodhorse illiterate European Court of Justice that found against the BHB in favour of William Hill.

EQUUS ZONE dangerously ignored  and Ripped Off by the Europian Court of Justice

EQUUS ZONE dangerously ignored  and Ripped Off by the British Legal Justice System

EQUUS ZONE dangerously ignored and Ripped Off by the British Jockey Club

EQUUS ZONE dangerously ignored and Ripped Off by the British Horseracing Authority

EQUUS ZONE dangerously ignored and Ripped Off by the British Horseracing Board

EQUUS ZONE dangerously ignored and Ripped Off by the British Political Government
 EQUUS ZONE dangerously ignored and Ripped Off by Racecourse Governments

EQUUS ZONE dangerously ignored and Ripped Off  by Bookmakers




 

 LEGENDS  OF THE TURF

 DERMOT WELD
Nicholas Godfrey celebrates racing's international pioneer.

FULL TILT FOR FESTIVAL

OVERTURN takes another giant leap towards the Racing Post Arkle with a foot-perfect win at Doncaster yesterday  Talk of the Tracks , pages 8-9


MONBEG DUDE TEAM AIMING FOR THE STARS WITH GOLD CUP ENTRY
Peter Scargill  “CONNECTIONS of MONBEG DUDE are eying bigger and better things after they entered the Welsh National winner for the Bet Fred Cheltenham Gold Cup yesterday.

“Trained by Michael Scudamore for a syndicate  that includes rugby union stars James Simpson-Daniel and Mike Tindall. MONBEG DUDE saw his rating climb by a further 10lb to an official mark of 138 following his Chepstow triumph, having also gone up 7lb for his victory at Cheltenham in November.



DUBAI
HOW TO WIN AT THE CARNIVAL
Best guide to the action from Dubai, pages 4,6 and 7


 
 
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