I’VE toyed with the idea of writing about racing expressions, and how those are utilised, particularly by commentators, and the sport has built up a dazzling array of idiomatic expressions, which can delight, but often merely enrage.

My mind was made up on this subject listening to the Belmont Park commentator describing how Surprising Soul had won the Lonesome Glory Hurdle on Thursday by leading “from flagfall to that’s all!”.

Some of us expect a commentator to simply say what they see, as Roy Walker often implored dim-witted contestants to do on his barrel-scraping gameshow Catchphrase. This is encapsulated in the following rant: “Why say ‘this is a grand sort of horse’? Why not just say horse?”

My response to this is threefold. Firstly, I mention that they’re talking about Jimmy Lindley circa 1983, and they have to let that go.

I also point out that saying horse at every opportunity rather than finding other alternatives – Logician, for example, is not only a horse, but a three-year-old, roan rocket, son of Frankel, nascent superstar, John Gosden-trained colt, and now a St Leger winner – becomes deadly dull very quickly.

“Grand sort”

Thirdly, when we call a horse a “grand sort”, we don’t mean he’s a lovely horse at all, but are making a direct reference to his physique, and an oblique reference to what this might mean for his future development, so replacing “sort” with “horse” impoverishes the sentiment being expressed.

I am a fundamental fan of the variety of the racing idiom, and I don’t complain as long as expressions aren’t used incorrectly – a horse which is called the winner of a tight photo having come from off the pace has not “just hung on” for instance, and yet this seems to get used quite a lot, albeit by studio presenters rather than commentators as a rule. See also “just got up” in the reverse scenario.

All-conquering

There are comments which always grate, of course. Sir Tony Trainer will be hailed as “all-conquering” if he gets the first-race winner on a wet Wednesday at Wolverhampton, but when Fred Farmer saddles one that “scrapes home” in the seller, then it’s obligatory to point out that all he needs is “the ammunition”, which would seem to refute the original statement.

I don’t get particularly annoyed that certain commentators have phrases that only they use, and that they end up using a little too often as a result, but in saying that I tend not to put myself through the torture of listening to a full card in sequence, and that makes me more forgiving, especially if the one “lashing home” up the middle at Beverley is one I’ve backed, and “gets up in the shadows of the post”, although such finishes are often “desperate”.

I even like it when, in the race after the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the “hunters pass the punters”, but if they go anywhere near the “clubhouse turn”, the executive will be getting a stern letter.

I’ve built up a large collection of form books over the years, which might be expensive, but not when people are inclined to “throw them out the window” after a shock result. It’s more annoying when they “tear up the formbook”, as that’s no benefit to anyone.

I think it’s fair to say that rejecting the many-splendoured thing which is the modern racing idiom will leave us “sitting chilly’” or merely “running up and down on the same spot”, whereas running the full gamut of idiomatic expressions, including those from other jurisdictions, will put us firmly in the “catbird” seat.