45OBITUARY
ISSUE 178 RACING AHEADTruth about that supposed chauvinistJohn McCririck
BIG MAC WAS
adored BY ALL
THE tv gIRLS
R
ACING lost its biggest char-
acter when John McCririck
died last month at the age
of 79.
The phrase “larger than
life” could have been coined for Big
Mac who spent three decades at the
heart of the sport’s coverage on ITV
and Channel 4.
His energetic performances in the
betting ring made him a household
name but, from the tributes paid by
some of the sport’s biggest names, it’s
clear that there was a lot more to him
than that TV persona.
McCririck had won awards as a cam-
paigning journalist on the Sporting
Lifebefore joining BBC Grandstand in
the 1970s where he helped bring TV
coverage of the betting side of the
sport to the fore.
His final job was writing a weekly
column for our sister publication The
Racing Paperwhen he was as courte-
ous to deal with as ever.
Those who knew him best on and off
screen were quick to pay tribute and
shine a light on the real John McCrir-
ick.
John Francome – as usual – said it
best: “He had a persona for TV, he was
nothing like what you saw on screen,
he was a lovely man.
“He was great company. A very
caring, sensitive and thoughtful man. I
loved him.
“I knew he’d been ill for a while. I feel
so sorry for his wife Jenny as they
were a great team.
“Ask anyone in the street to name
two people in racing they have heard
of and they will tell you Frankie Dettori
and Big Mac. That says it all. John was
the face of racing. He was much loved
by so many.”
It wasn’t just giants of the sport like
Francome – always termed “Greatest
Jockey” by McCririck – who were
helped along the way.
Tanya Stevenson had the difficult
task of playing the foil to Big Mac for
Channel 4. While many would have
been suspicious about a newcomer
entering their territory, McCririck
couldn’t have done more to help her
fledegling TV career.
She said: “I worked with John for 15
years. He was witty, sharp and mis-
chievous. I was very lucky, I loved him
dearly.
“He spoke the punters' language. He
brought the betting industry to
account but praised it when it needed
to be praised.”It’s a shame that McCririck’s TV
career – in racing at least – ended in
acrimony as he was dropped by Chan-
nel 4 in 2012 when the TV production
company changed.
He lost a court case for age discrimi-
nation and that partly explains why he
veered into the murky world of reality
TV and a whole new audience.
The last producer he worked with at
Channel 4 – Andrew Franklin – lifted
the lid on the off-screen Big Mac.
He said: “Among those of us who
worked on Channel 4 Racing he was
supremely well liked – and for all his
chauvinistic bluster the girls on the
team adored him.
“He had so many qualities, not least
that he was fearless. There was a day
at Chester when he felt bookmaker
overrounds were too high, so he went
down a line of boards and challenged
them about it live on air, telling them
to their faces they were exploiting
racegoers. He was a terrific champion
of the punter. He also had a marvellous
populist touch allied with a razor-
sharp editorial mind.”
And it emerged that McCririck even
had a hand in saving the Grand
National when the great race was on
its knees.
In 1982 it looked as though Aintree
would be sold for housing before Big
Mac helped to persuade owner Bill
Davies to sell the land to the Jockey
Club.
Keeping the Grand National going is
a legacy that anyone can be proud of.RAJohn
McCririck,
the arch
showman