Commentator Holt the best element of Channel 4's coverage

I shall not be alone in lamenting the loss of Simon Holt to free-to-air race-calling. Holt has long been the best element of Channel 4’s coverage – overwhelmingly so since Highflyer lost the production rights.

While appreciating ITV’s wish not to be linked in the public mind with Channel 4 Racing, I would have thought culling the weak links would have served better to this end. It seems typical of new-age thinking that the two members of the team who shone brightest and warranted retention – Holt and Nick Luck – are getting the chop.

It’s been my lot to watch televised racing since the 1960s. Holt was not the first to deploy a distinctive voice and a choice turn of phrase, but I am sure history will record him as the pivotal figure in revolutionising race-calling on terrestrial television. Why? He was the first to consistently link colours to horses. He identified runners rather than just reeling off names and leaving the rest to the viewer – a fundamental requirement in the age of colour television.