horse commentry

[christy053]

hiya
i am writing a story and a section is going to include a horse racing commentry . i have seen horse racing on tv a few times but when it comes to writing it down i have bo idea what to write . please can some people give me some ideas and some things i can include in my commentry . thankyou

[sir.prize]

Try this . . .

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,60 8486,00.html

[andy-hughes]

You need to start the monologue with a run-through of the first horse, through to last. Follow that with the firest three or four again, with the distances btween them, how far the race has run, and how far it has to go. Run through the first four again, and advise of the back marker (last horse). Then advise of the closing stages - three furlongs, two, one, and confirm the lead three, and any that are showing a strong finish, or tailing off, or being pulled up (giving up and stopped). The concentrate of the first three as they pass the winning post, and as the rest come in, name them in order, and confirm the name of the last horse. Sumarise with the names of the first three, and the odds at which they were bet.

Job done.

[christy053]

thankyou . andy your asnwer is excellent you obviously know a lot about this . but i am not sure what you mean . i ride horses but dont race and so dont no any of this vocabulary . plwease could you try and explain
thank you

[andy-hughes]

OK -

You start off as the race gets going - the traditional phrase is "And tbey're under Starter's Orders ... and they're off!". The Starter is the guy who gets them all into line, or sess that they are in stalls, depending if it's Flat Racing, or over Jumps (fences). He then pulls a switch to open the stalls, or raise the wire, and the jockeys start their horses off, and the race is under way.

The commentator usually starts by going through the horses by name, from first to last - something like

"And it's Andy Hughes out in front, with Christy pressing hard in second place, and Shilpa's Gorgeous challenging in third place, with .... and so on through all the horses, finishing with ...and it's Jade's-a-Chav bringing up the rear..."

After that, the commentator concentrates on the first four or five horses, and advises which one is doing well, which one is getting tired -

"And as they past the half-way marker it;s still Andy Hughes out in front by some ten lengths now from Christy who is still second but tiring, and being challenged by Shilpa's Gorgeous who is running strongly on the outside ... and the back marker is still Jade's-a-Chav who may well be pulled up...."

Towards the end, say three or four furlongs from the end, each horse gets quicker, if they can, and the commentator gets more excited, and talks a lot faster because it increases the exciting atmosphere -

" ... and Andy Hughes is drawing away from Christy, but Shilpa's Gorgeous has made a late challenge and has stormed into second place, and she's trying to get on terms with Andy Hughes, and it's neck and neck, and at the line, it's just Andy Hughes, from Shilpa's Gorgeous, with Christy running on in third ... (and so on naming all the horses as they come in) ... and Jade's-a-Chave failed to finish and was pulled up ..."

Right then - terms -

[andy-hughes]

continued -

Half-way Marker - all horse races are measured in furlongs. A furlong is an eigth of a mile, and the course has a post at each furlong with the number it is from the Finish. So, if the race is one mile, the 'half -way marker will be the 4 Furlong post, if it's a mile and a half, it will be the 6 furlong post, and so on.

If anything else isunclear - let me know and I'll be happy to explain further.

A.

[christy053]

yay thankyou so much andy thats perfect . exactually what i needed . thankyou again
x
christy
x

[andy-hughes]

You are most welcome - glad to help.

Just for the record, I know nothing about racing per se, but I do like watching races, and have seen thousands on TV, so I know the commentary format backwards.

A.

[ELVIS68]

Very impressive Mr H....why was Jade`s a chav pulled up and what were the SPs?

[andy-hughes]

The prices are -

Andy Hughes 100 / 1 on.
Christy 7 / 4
Shilpa's Gorgeous 33 / 1
Jade's-a-Chav 100,00000 / 1 (always was an outsider!)

Jade's-a-Chav was pulled up because she hasn't got the legs!!!!!

[ELVIS68]

lol....as I said, very impressive Mr H, do you ever have a flutter yourself?