Julian David Bonhote Wilson (21 June 1940 – 20 April 2014) was

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

correspondent from 1966 until his retirement in 1997. He was succeeded by

Clare Balding Clare Victoria Balding (born 29 January 1971) is an English broadcaster, journalist, and author. She currently presents for BBC Sport, Channel 4, BT Sport, is the current president of the Rugby Football League (RFL) and formerly presented the ...

. Between 1969 and 1992, he was one of the commentators for the Grand National and for a time he had editorial control over the BBC's midweek racing coverage. He was born in Sidmouth,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

; his father was the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...

'' sportswriter Peter Wilson; his grandfather was the ''Times'' and ''Mirror'' sportswriter

Frederic Wilson Frederic Bonhôte Wilson (21 September 1881 – 19 January 1932), known as Fred or Freddy, was a sporting journalist and, in his youth, a cricketer who played in first-class cricket matches for Cambridge University and amateur teams between 19 ...

. Outside his presenting career, he was a racehorse owner and racing manager. His winners as an owner included Tumbledownwind, a two-year-old winner at Goodwood, and Tykeyvor, a winner in the

Bessborough Stakes The Duke of Edinburgh Stakes is a flat Handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses of three-year-old and up. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile 3 furlongs and 211 yards (2,406 ...

Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and ...

in 1996, trained by Lady Herries. He was a racehorse manager to Clement Freud and

Walter Mariti Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

. Wilson was a former pupil of

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

Feuds

Peter O'Sullevan

In his autobiography ''Some You Win'', published in 1998, he revealed a rift with Peter O'Sullevan, his long-time colleague at the BBC. Wilson felt that he had been misled as to whether or not he would succeed O`Sullevan as chief BBC race commentator. He also said that he had a strained relationship with Balding.

Death and broadcasting

Wilson died of cancer on 20 April 2014. He was twice married: firstly to Carolyn Michael in 1970, then to Alison Ramsay in 1981. He had one son, Thomas, with his first wife. Julian Wilson's final BBC Grandstand was shown on Saturday 20 December 1997 with racing from Ascot, the BBC also showed highlights and memories of his broadcasting career. The final broadcast of his career would come a week later (27 December) as BBC 2 showed racing from Chepstow which included the Welsh Grand National. Grand National commentaries - 24 1969 - 1992. Wilson would cover the first 4 fences on both circuits during his debut Grand National commentary in 1969 - the first in colour. The following year only he and Peter O'Sullevan would provide commentary, Wilson remarkably covering them over the first 12 fences up to the anchor bridge crossing on both circuits. From 1971 three commentators were again used for the National and Wilson would be stationed out at Becher's Brook where he would remain until 1992.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Julian 1940 births 2014 deaths People educated at Harrow School BBC newsreaders and journalists British horse racing writers and broadcasters BBC sports presenters and reporters People from Sidmouth