Farewell to a Festival friend John McCririck 1940-2019
C HELTENHAM and John McCririck were made for each other and the frenzy of the betting ring during The Festival TM presented by Magners was his natural habitat, one place where, however flamboyant his clothes and eccentric his behaviour, he fitted in perfectly. Above all, McCririck, who died in July at the age of 79, loved the drama of The Festival, the battles between heavyweight punters and bookmakers who rolled with every blow. In the days when cash was king and the betting ring was awash with it, no-one described the cut and thrust between the warring factions better than McCririck, an award-winning reporter for The Sporting Life before he took to the television screens, notably as a key member of the ITV and then Channel 4 Racing teams for more than three decades. It was McCririck who turned some of the bookmakers into media stars in their own right, in particular Freddie Williams, the Scottish layer dubbed Fearless Freddie by McCririck for his willingness to take on even the biggest hitters in the ring. Among those who paid tribute to the broadcaster was former Cheltenham Racecourse chairman Lord Vestey who described McCririck as a “true lover of racing” and recalled how he had played a part in saving Aintree when it was put up for sale by Bill Davies in 1982. Vestey, on behalf
of The Jockey Club, had reached a difficult point in negotiations with the property tycoon when McCririck stepped in to arrange a meeting. McCririck’s passion for Aintree was hugely important in convincing Davies to sell to The Jockey Club, according to Vestey, keeping the course out of the hands of those seeking to build on it. “It was John who got me in to see Mr Davies,” Vestey said. “Everyone at The Jockey Club was very grateful. “John was his usual bombastic self in the meeting, saying how Mr Davies couldn’t do this and mustn’t do that! It helped him to sell to us, I’m certain of that.” Cheltenham Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle-winning jockey John Francome was among Channel 4 colleagues who paid tribute, saying: “No matter where I go, for every person who asks me what Tony McCoy, Frankie Dettori or Ryan Moore are like, ten will ask me what’s that guy with the whiskers like.” None knew McCririck better than his wife of 48 years, Jenny, usually referred to by her husband as The Booby. “Some people said he was awful but that was absolute rubbish,” she said. “John put on a pantomime act but deep down he was a private person and he cared about people. “For me it’s like the light has been switched off. It’s the end of an era.”
36 The Festival March 2020
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