The BBC has dropped a bombshell by scrapping one of its long-standing horse racing traditions.
For nearly 50 years, the broadcaster has dished out daily racing tips as part of the sports bulletin on Radio 4’s Today programme, but as of this week that’s a thing of the past. Amol Rajan, the show’s host, revealed that from now on, punters will only be offered selection for top-tier events like the Grand National and Cheltenham Gold Cup.
A BBC source claimed that the move was sparked by a desire to cover more sports in the bulletin. The decision, which was made just days after the conclusion of Royal Ascot, comes after The Sun revealed how just one in five of the BBC’s selections in 2022 turned out to be a winner – and their picks across both 2021 and 2020 weren’t much better either.
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On air, Rajan told listeners: “No racing tips from [BBC sports reporter Mike Williams] today. That is because we have decided to break the tradition of having racing tips every day of the year. Instead we’re going to reserve the tips for the biggest days in the racing calendar.”
He added: “We will very much continue to cover horse racing, as we do so many other sports, not least through interviews with leading lights in the racing world, and we will sometimes continue to broadcast from the big ticket events like the Grand National festival, or Cheltenham Gold Cup week.”
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It follows previous controversy after the BBC axed the classified football results from Radio 5 Live on Saturdays, a tradition which dated back to the 1950s.
Cornelius Lysaght, a long-serving BBC horse racing correspondent who left the broadcaster in 2020, described the decision to remove daily tips as a “kick in the teeth”. He expressed his disappointment to the Daily Mail after learning last year that his former employers were considering the move.
“At a time when racing’s media profile has been eroded and racecourse attendances have been falling this is another kick in the teeth for the sport,” he said. “It is massively disappointing news, but probably not a complete surprise.”
“Any publicity racing can secure is valuable and the Today programme audience is huge. Anything related to gambling clearly prompts debate at the moment and rightly so, but the tips are just a bit of fun rather than serious advice to bet and to suggest otherwise would be to misunderstand them.”
After the decision was officially announced this week, Lysaght took to social media platform X to express his disappointment: “A pity BBC Radio 4 Today dropping (without real explanation) the tips that have been enjoyable part of the prog since 1977; say that just as much (maybe more) as a fan of Today than horse racing.”
He added that the tips had “provided smiles and priceless moments of levity”.