Simon Holt (born 18 April 1964) is a British

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 ...

commentator. From the beginning of 2000 to the end of 2016, he was the main race commentator for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

Commentary career

Holt became a racecourse commentator in 1988, and made his TV debut for

on 30 September 1994 at Newmarket. He rose through the commentating ranks quickly, and was race-calling alongside Graham Goode for the SIS feed for the Grand National in 1990. The pair went on to commentate on the race together until 1997. Holt was also racecourse commentator at Newmarket during the Guineas meeting whilst positioned out in the country, and has been grandstand commentator at Royal Ascot since the mid-1990s. From the beginning of 1995 he was heard regularly, sometimes as a race commentator but sometimes in the now defunct job of betting and results reader. He replaced

Raleigh Gilbert Walter Raleigh Willock Gilbert, known as Raleigh Gilbert (28 February 1936 – c. February 1998) was a British horse racing commentator active for 40 years. Early life Born in Devon and educated at Sherborne School, Gilbert rode as an amateur wh ...

as Channel 4's second commentator, calling the first part of the race at tracks such as Newmarket before handing over to Goode in the grandstand. Goode at that time remained Channel 4's main race commentator, but in the late 1990s Holt covered more and more races such as the Whitbread Gold Cup and the

Tingle Creek Chase The Tingle Creek Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Sandown Park over a distance of about 2 miles (1 mil ...

Sandown Park Sandown Park is a horse racing course and leisure venue in Esher, Surrey, England, located in the outer suburbs of London. It hosts 5 Grade One National Hunt races and one Group 1 flat race, the Eclipse Stakes. It regularly has horse racing ...

. Holt became the main commentator from the beginning of 2000, and his first meeting as Channel 4's senior race-caller came at Uttoxeter for the 'new millennium's first race-meeting'. He only covered the

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

and Oaks once for Channel 4, however, before

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

took over coverage from Epsom in 2001. From 2013 to 2016 he called the Derby and the Oaks again for Channel 4 whilst the channel held the rights to terrestrial coverage. He covered many important events for Channel 4 including the

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Rac ...

1,000 1000 or one thousand is the natural number following 999 and preceding 1001. In most English-speaking countries, it can be written with or without a comma or sometimes a period separating the thousands digit: 1,000. A group of one thousand thi ...

and

2,000 Guineas The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year at ...

, St Leger, King George VI Chase and, from 2007,

Glorious Goodwood Goodwood Racecourse is a horse-racing track five miles north of Chichester, West Sussex, in England controlled by the family of the Duke of Richmond, whose seat is nearby Goodwood House. It hosts the annual Glorious Goodwood meeting in late ...

. He also called the

Irish Derby The Irish Derby (Irish: Dearbaí na hÉireann) is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 ...

once (in 2000 when Sinndar triumphed as

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

used the BBC's Jim McGrath to call the race in the absence of Tony O'Hehir), as well as the 2001 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe when the TV rights briefly transferred from the BBC to Channel 4. From 2013 to 2016, he was lead commentator for

Channel 4 Racing ''Channel 4 Racing'' was the name given to the horse racing coverage on the British television stations Channel 4 and More4. History The first transmission of racing on the channel was on 22 March 1984 from Doncaster, as it took over midweek cov ...

's coverage of the

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 ...

meeting. He remained a regular racecourse commentator throughout his time at Channel 4, often working at his local tracks, Lingfield Park, Plumpton,

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

and Fontwell Park. In October 2010, Holt commentated on some of the minor sports, including bowls, at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi for the BBC.

Writing

Holt regularly writes for sportinglife.com.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Holt, Simon 1964 births Living people British horse racing writers and broadcasters