Profile : John McCririck
Monday, March 9th, 2009
There are few horseracing pundits who have caused as much controversy as the infamous John McCririck who is regularly seen around the UK horse racecourses and specifically on Channel 4 racing. Born on 17 April 1940 McCririck is well-known for his trademark deerstalker hat, tweed jacket and large sideburns and comes across as your stereotypical upper-class eccentric. But what else do we know about John McCririck?
After receiving his education at Victoria College in Jersey and Harrow School, John McCririck first stepped into the horseracing limelight as a journalist at The Sporting Life and other racing publications. His TV career began in 1981 with a stint on ITV horseracing before moving to Channel 4 in 1984 where he still makes sporadic appearances after having his contract renewed but reduced just last year. He is well-known for his eccentricity as well as his outspoken comments which have caused a severe backlash at times.
A racing man through and through John McCririck is an expert in the art of Tic-tac which is the horseracing equivalent of a foreign-language to many of us. While McCririck has stepped out into other avenues of TV over the years and often ventures over to America for the Breeders Cup he is predominantly a “home bird” and feels most comfortable in his homeland England.