TL: What is your earliest racing memory growing up in Melbourne, Australia, and was commentating on the sport something you always wanted to do?

J McG: My earliest racing memory was going to the track with my father Brian as a four-year-old. He was a bookmaker and I watched each race with him on his pitch.

TL: What was the racing scene like in Australia compared to Ireland/UK at that time?

J McG: I had no way of comparing Australian racing to anywhere else but it would be fair to say that we were very parochial in our coverage in Australia.

Since Vintage Crop won the Melbourne Cup in 1993 there has been more interest in the international scene, particularly in Europe.

I had very little knowledge of European racing until I went to Hong Kong in 1973 and it was meeting jockeys such as Pat Eddery and Joe Mercer that inspired me to go to Europe. I first went to the Curragh in 1974 to watch English Prince’s Irish Derby. It was peaceful and relaxed compared to the buzz and frenetic nature of an Australian racetrack.

TL: What do you think of Hong Kong when you went there in 1973?

J McG: I worked as a racing journalist for the China Mail. I was only 21 years old and it was a new experience for me.

After being there for five months I got my opportunity to commentate and it began with two races a day in Happy Valley.

Racing only went professional in Hong Kong in 1971 and it was a very good racing and betting scene. The Chinese punters are renowned for their gambling and particularly on horse racing. The only legal form of gambling back then was racing. It was only Happy Valley at that time before Sha Tin opened in 1978.

TL: What commentator did you aspire to be like when starting out in your career?

J McG: Bill Collins and Bert Bryant were two outstanding personalities and commentators. The one that had the biggest influence on me in style and presentation would be Bill Collins. He was one of the sporting commentary icons of Australia.

TL: You moved to Britain in the mid-1980s as a racecourse commentator that included a stint at the old Phoenix Park Racecourse. Was that a big change?

J McG: Mine was a different accent for a start and people gave me more latitude than the resident commentator. The phrases I used in commentary were typical Aussie racing phrases and Aussie ways of summing up the situations and I set out to be myself in commentary.

Phoenix Park was an extraordinary racecourse to commentate at and a brilliant experience because they were basically two tracks. There was a track that went left-handed and there was a track that went right-handed and they could vary.

TL: You were the lead commentator for the BBC between 1997 to 2012, What was that like?

J McG: The BBC was a fantastic channel to work for. The big days were huge and the Grand National was the supreme sporting event for the BBC. They were so professional and it was a privilege to be part of a truly great team.

The Derby was also a big race to cover and we started with a great one when Galileo won in 2001. I did 12 Derbys for the BBC.

The Arc is always an outstanding race and when Sea The Stars won (2009) it was an eventful race because Sea The Stars was boxed in and everyone was trying to keep him in.

TL: As well as working for the BBC you also worked for the Racing Post and latterly The Daily Telegraph. What did those roles involve and how much has the media landscape in racing changed since you started out in the industry?

J McG: I enjoyed my four years at the Racing Post which was the job I came to when I arrived in the UK. It was a new publication around the time I started and it was exciting to be able to work on and say that you were involved with the first edition of a newspaper that is still going today.

The biggest change that has happened is obviously the internet and the media scene of internet reporting. It has brought more pressure on racing journalists to be able to write quickly and well and we also have access to endless videos which are available on our iPads and smartphones.

TL: The Grand National is a special race in these parts. What was it like to commentate on the famous race and how does it compare to the Melbourne Cup?

J McG: I was very fortunate to have called 20 Grand Nationals for BBC television and Melbourne Cups for BBC Radio. The Grand National is such a thrilling experience and an exciting event to cover and I was very lucky to be commentating on the race out in the country by Becher’s Brook for the first five years when Peter O’Sullevan was the lead commentator where most of the action particularly on the first circuit used to happen.

The tower was inside the course and they raced around you at almost 180 degrees by starting over there with Becher’s and then switching around when they were going over Valentine’s. There was so much action, proper fences and 40 runners, and it happened very quickly.

The Melbourne Cup is different in the sense that it is a sporting event that completely dominates the racing and the general media before the race. There is not a horse race anywhere, even the Grand National, that occupies so much in a nation’s mind.

TL: You have commentated on plenty of Royal Meetings down the years, What were your standout moments or favourite races of the meeting during that time?

J McG: I called 25 or 26 Royal Ascots and they were always special. The memorable week that stands out was 2012 when Frankel won the first race of the week, the Queen Anne Stakes, by 11 lengths and Black Caviar came over from Australia and won the Diamond Jubilee.

Both were remarkable in the sense that one horse won comfortably and another overcame a troublesome journey from Australia. Black Caviar was away from home and she rose to the occasion.

To add to the drama Luke Nolen dropped his hands but thankfully there was a happy ending even though for one or two split seconds it looked as if it could have been a disaster.

TL: What is your favourite racehorse of all time and why?

J McG: Dancing Brave is a horse who was always special to me. He was an exceptional racehorse and his win in the Arc in 1986 was incredible. He beat seven Group 1 winners across the track.

In Australia there was a horse named Vain, an absolute crackerjack sprinter in the late 1960s, and then Vintage Crop, a horse who changed everything in Australia as he was the first overseas-trained winner of the Melbourne Cup. They would be my three favourite horses.

TL: Have you any particularly fond memories of Irish racing?

J McG: The Galway Races were great to cover. I called a couple of days down there on the course. I called the big meetings for RTÉ Radio while Tony O’Hehir was on the television. I have very fond memories of Irish racing and I had a really fantastic time.