Angus McNae
Getting more from Moore!
15 August 2012
Today's selection
3.25 Salisbury - Dare To Dream
I will be heading to the studio shortly to help out with our afternoon coverage from Salisbury and Beverley. On this occasion I am not staying put for the evening action from Kempton, that delight will be brought to you by Richard Hoiles and Dave Yates. This is the start of three straight days working for Racing UK which will keep me busy.
These are interesting times in the Racing world. Mad scrambling behind calm exteriors for a place on the IMG Sports Media team in 2013 is accompanied by various debates about Ryan Moore and the media. I have no view on IMG at all, other than it is good news for the industry that terrestrial TV will continue to show top-class racing. Those with fingers in the correct pie will get the nod to be part of the new team who will present the coverage, 'twas ever thus.
Now as for Ryan Moore. The bottom line is that he is a world-class jockey. This seems to have been forgotten of late. As such the media will always want to speak to him, but when he does not want to speak to the media a standoff occurs and then disappears as quickly as it emerged. He is not a Gold Olympian seeking adulation from wherever he can get it. He is Ryan Moore, world-class former champion jockey. This should not excuse him from good manners of course; politeness costs nothing.
My only dealings with him were when interviewing him after his win in the Derby on Workforce.
He was prickly at first, but that was because I was asking him about emotion, about what the Derby means to him and to be frank he was not Interested in answering such questions. In short in interview he does not do emotion, but if you ask him about the horse he just rode, how the race panned out for him, or the pace of the race and that type of thing he normally relaxes a little. As he relaxed, he revealed to me on air that he may have been too hard on the subsequent Arc hero. Now that really is interesting insight.
He is a brilliant analyst of a race and will impart his knowledge, but emotion and things outside his remit such as plans for the horse turn him off completely. My interview with him that day was poor, but I believe I have learnt from it.
Many will say that as journalists we have a right to ask what we want and he should politely answer as best he can, but surely we can get more from Moore if we stick to asking him purely about riding the racehorse. We can all guess how it felt to win the Derby without asking him to tell us the bleedin' obvious.
No joy with our well-backed selection yesterday. Today I am keen on the chances of Dare To Dream in the 3.25 at Salisbury. After a seven month lay-off this horse was given too much to do at Newbury last time and still was just beaten a neck in a fast time. That was over seven furlongs and this step up to a mile will very much suit. I think this horse is worth backing with some confidence this afternoon.
Comments
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“We can all guess how it felt to win the Derby without asking him to tell us the bleedin’ obvious.”
Yes, agreed and accepted up to a point. The BBC obsession with “Describe how it felt” became nauseating quite early on, before descending into banal tedium.
But, if jockeys and trainers are to take the sport to a wider audience - and that is the singular aim of all this PR training for them - then ‘outsiders’ WILL want to hear the reply to those ‘emotional’ questions, no matter how hackneyed the answer is.
This is where interrogators and the interrogated need to understand the purpose and context of the interview. Mix it up: it’s perfectly fair, if perhaps a little dull/predictable for many, to ask how it felt. But do go on to add colour for those steeped in the sport as well.
The two are not mutually exclusive, and tolerance on both side of the microphone will bring new audiences and a deeper understanding for the existing one.
Matt Bisogno
Matt Bisogno | 9 months ago@mattbisogno
Nice piece here, Angus. I couldn’t agree with you more with regard to Ryan Moore (same applies to so-called dour people like Andy Murray). The number of times I’ve felt that the sportsperson has done well to restrain themselves in the face of the vacuous, bland questions being posed by the ‘idiot with the mic’... If they’d just stop asking stupid “how did it feel” questions and keep to the issues relating to the race and it will be a far better experience for all concerned.
Phil Hertel | 9 months ago