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Darren Owen
Darren Charles Owen is a horse racing commentator, born 3 June 1967 in St. Asaph, North Wales. Having been interested in horse racing since a young age, Owen won the regional final of an amateur sports commentator competition, organised by BBC Radio 2 and sponsored by Fosters Lager, in 1989. He finished third in the nationwide final. Following this breakthrough, he began commentating on horse racing for BBC Radio Wales, starting with the 1989 Welsh National won by Bonanza Boy. He contributed to both the Sporting Life and Racing Post from 1992, providing in-running comments for individual races. Following the closure of the Sporting Life, he continued to work for the Racing Post and still contributes to the present day - mainly at local racecourses such as Bangor-On-Dee, Chester and Haydock Park. Joining the racecourse commentary team in 1997, Owen made his debut at Wolverhampton on 29 March. By the end of 2010, he had called at 40 of Britain's 60 racecourses. In 2011, Kempton ...
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Welsh Grand National
The Coral Welsh Grand National is a Premier Handicap National Hunt racing, National Hunt Steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to Horse racing, horses aged four years or older. It is run at Chepstow Racecourse, Chepstow, Wales, over a distance of about 3 miles and 6½ furlongs (3 miles 6 furlongs and 130 yards, or 6,154 metres), and during its running there are twenty-three fences to be jumped. It is a Handicap (horse racing), handicap race, and it is scheduled to take place each year on 27 December. The race was first run in 1895, and it originally took place at Ely Racecourse in Cardiff. It remained at this venue until the closure of the course in 1939. After World War II it was transferred to Newport Racecourse in 1948, and it was then moved to its present venue in 1949. Dick Francis, the famous jockey turned author, rode the first Chepstow winner of the race, Fighting Line. David Nicholson, later a ...
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Sporting Life (British Newspaper)
The ''Sporting Life'' was a British newspaper published from 1859 until 1998, best known for its coverage of horse racing and greyhound racing. Latterly it has continued as a multi-sports website. Priced at one penny, the ''Sporting Life'' initially appeared twice weekly, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It became a daily newspaper in 1883, and in 1886 acquired its rival, ''Bell's Life in London''. In 1924 the newspaper sponsored the 1924 Women's Olympiad held at Stamford Bridge in London. The paper continued publication until its merger with the ''Racing Post'' in May 1998; a proposed relaunch was aborted in 1999. On 20 December 1996, before the newspaper arm closed, ''Sporting Life'' launched an online version of the papersportinglife.com The site was run as a joint venture between Trinity Mirror and the Press Association until PA Sporting Life Ltd was sold to
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Racing Post
''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting publisher which is published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of 60,629 copies. History Launched on 15 April 1987, the ''Racing Post'' is a daily national print and digital publisher specializing British horseracing industry and horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting. The paper was founded by UAE (United Arab Emirates) Prime Minister and Sheikh of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, a racehorse owner, and edited by Graham Rock, who was replaced by Michael Harris in 1988. In 1998, Sheikh Mohammed sold the license for the paper to Trinity Mirror, owners of '' The Sporting Life'', for £1; Sheikh Mohammed still retains ownership of the paper's name, and Trinity Mirror donated £10 million to four horseracing charities as a condition of the transfer. In 2007, Trinity Mirror sold ...
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Grand National
The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap steeplechase over an official distance of about 4 miles and 2½ furlongs (), with horses jumping 30 fences over two laps.''British Racing and Racecourses'' () by Marion Rose Halpenny – Page 167 It is the most valuable jump race in Europe, with a prize fund of £1 million in 2017. An event that is prominent in British culture, the race is popular amongst many people who do not normally watch or bet on horse racing at other times of the year. The course over which the race is run features much larger fences than those found on conventional National Hunt tracks. Many of these fences, particularly Becher's Brook, The Chair and the Canal Turn, have become famous in their own right and, combined with the distance of the event, create what h ...
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Jim McGrath (British Commentator)
Jim McGrath (born 22 May 1955) is an English horse racing pundit and broadcaster. He was associated with Timeform from 1974 until 2009. His nickname is "The Sage of Halifax". He is well known for his onscreen relationship with John Francome on Channel 4 Racing. McGrath had an ambition to become a jockey, but after a summer at trainer Bill Marshall's yard at Whitsbury, he was advised that he wouldn't make the grade. On leaving Brunts School in Mansfield, McGrath joined publisher Timeform in 1974 "putting the glue on the cards." After five years, he became a racecourse reporter, in 2000 Managing Director and in August 2008 Chairman. McGrath joined Channel 4 Racing at launch in 1984 as a pundit having started with ITV as a presenter in 1981. He was a member of the British Horseracing Board's Jump Racing Advisory Panel from 1993 until mid-2004. In 2004 he stepped down as a member of the Horserace Writers and Photographers’ Association Committee. In 2005 he became an independe ...
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Ian Bartlett
Ian Bartlett is a horse racing commentator and occasionally was an analyst for the BBC. He has also commentated for Channel 4 Racing. Bartlett has always been associated with his role at Aintree. He commentated for SIS's feed of their Grand National coverage from 1998 to 2001. (Except 2000, where the BBC's commentary team gave live pictures and commentary for SIS). For the BBC's television coverage of the Grand National, from 2004 up to and including the 2012 race after which the BBC lost the rights, Bartlett commentated on four sections of the 4½-mile steeplechase, from the 1st to 5th fence, 10th to 12th, 17th to 21st and 26th to 28th. It wasn't expected any BBC commentators would move to Channel 4 but Bartlett did join Channel 4 and started commentating on the Grand National at Aintree for Channel 4 in 2013 and joined Richard Hoiles and lead commentator Simon Holt in the commentary box. He also joined Mick Fitzgerald, Clare Balding and Rishi Persad in moving from the BBC to ...
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Becher's Brook
Becher's Brook ( ) is a fence jumped during the Grand National, a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. It is jumped twice during the race, as the and fence, as well as on four other occasions during the year. It has always been a notorious and controversial obstacle, because of the size and angle of the 6 ft 9in drop on the landing side. Some jockeys have compared it to "jumping off the edge of the world." After the deaths of Dark Ivy in the 1987 Grand National and Seeandem and Brown Trix in the 1989 Grand National, all at Becher's Brook, Aintree bowed to pressure from animal rights groups and undertook extensive modifications to the fence. Further changes were made after two horses, Ornais and Dooneys Gate, died during the 2011 Grand National, the latter at Becher's. The incident involving Dooneys Gate resulted in the fence being jumped only once for the first time in the race's history; it was bypassed on the outside on ...
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Foinavon
Foinavon (1958–1971) was an Irish racehorse. He won the Grand National in 1967 at odds of 100/1 after the rest of the field fell, refused or were hampered or brought down in a mêlée at the 23rd fence. The fence was officially named after Foinavon in 1984. He was at one point owned by Anne Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster, whose colours were also carried by Arkle. Both horses were named after Scottish mountains. Early life and career Foinavon’s sire was the French-bred Vulgan who was based at Blackrath Farm in County Kildare, Ireland. Vulgan was a leading National Hunt sire, producing winners of the Champion Hurdle, Cheltenham Gold Cup and three Grand Nationals. Foinavon’s dam was Ecilace, a nineteen-year-old broodmare who had never raced but had already foaled Umm, the winner of the 1955 Irish Grand National. She was owned by a dairy farmer in County Limerick who paid 47 guineas to have her covered by Vulgan. Foinavon was foaled in 1958 and spent the first year an ...
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Canal Turn
The Canal Turn is a fence on Aintree Racecourse's National Course and thus is jumped during the Grand National Steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase which is held annually at the racecourse, located near Liverpool, England. Named for the Leeds & Liverpool Canal which passes alongside the racecourse at this point, it is jumped twice during the race, as the and fences. The fence is notable for the sharp left turn that the runners have to take as soon as they have negotiated the fence. The turn is almost 90 degrees and it is not uncommon for jockeys to become unbalanced as they change course; unseatings and falls are common. Seven equine fatalities have been recorded at the Canal Turn in Grand Nationals since the race was first run officially in 1839 Grand National, 1839; the most recent death was that of The Last Fling in 2002 Grand National, 2002. The Canal Turn has been the scene of a number of incidents that have had a major impact upon the outcome of the Grand National. In ...
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William Hill (bookmaker)
William Hill is a British gambling company founded in 1934. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. The business is split into two divisions, UK and International. UK operations are conducted from its headquarters in London, alongside satellite offices in Leeds and Gibraltar, while its International business operates from its hub in Malta. The company was previously listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Caesars Entertainment in April 2021. In July 2022, William Hill was subsequently acquired by 888 Holdings for £2.2 billion. History The company was founded by William Hill in 1934. It changed hands many times, being acquired by Sears Holdings in 1971, then by Grand Metropolitan in 1988, then by Brent Walker in 1989. In September 1996, Brent Walker recouped £117m of the £685m it had paid for William Hill when Grand Metropolitan were found to have exaggerated the company's profits at the time of the ...
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Welsh Sports Broadcasters
Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic people) Animals * Welsh (pig) Places * Welsh Basin, a basin during the Cambrian, Ordovician and Silurian geological periods * Welsh, Louisiana, a town in the United States * Welsh, Ohio, an unincorporated community in the United States See also * Welch (other) * * * Cambrian + Cymru Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in 202 ... {{Disambiguation Language and nationality disambiguation pages ...
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Living People
Related categories * :Year of birth missing (living people) / :Year of birth unknown * :Date of birth missing (living people) / :Date of birth unknown * :Place of birth missing (living people) / :Place of birth unknown * :Year of death missing / :Year of death unknown * :Date of death missing / :Date of death unknown * :Place of death missing / :Place of death unknown * :Missing middle or first names See also * :Dead people * :Template:L, which generates this category or death years, and birth year and sort keys. : {{DEFAULTSORT:Living people 21st-century people People by status ...
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