McGrath had an ambition to become a jockey, but after a summer at trainer Bill Marshall's yard at Whitsbury, he was advised that he wouldn't make the grade. On leaving Brunts School in Mansfield,[3] McGrath joined publisher Timeform in 1974 "putting the glue on the cards."[4] After five years, he became a racecourse reporter, in 2000 Managing Director and in August 2008 Chairman.[5][6]
McGrath joined Channel 4 Racing at launch in 1984 as a pundit having started with ITV as a presenter in 1981. He was a member of the British Horseracing Board's Jump Racing Advisory Panel from 1993 until mid-2004. In 2004 he stepped down as a member of the Horserace Writers and Photographers' Association Committee. In 2005 he became an independent director of the British Horseracing Board, a nominee of the Jockey Club.[7] and retained this position when the BHB became the British Horseracing Authority in July 2007.
McGrath is a breeder and owner, with current interests in horses in training with Sylvester Kirk, Jamie Osborne and Jonjo O’Neill.[8]
McGrath gave notice of his intention to resign from Timeform on 22 December 2008. Timeform had been bought by Betfair in November 2006, but the reason for McGrath's resignation remained private.[6] McGrath maintained his involvement with the charity race day at York in June which had been known from 1971 until 2008 as the Timeform Charity Day but in 2009 became the Macmillan Charity Day.
On 17 December 2016 it was announced on Channel 4 that this was to be his last appearance as part of the Channel Four Racing Team. However when racing returned on ITV in January 2017 surprisingly he did not come back to the network where he started his TV career.
mcgrath, british, commentator, mcgrath, born, 1955, english, horse, racing, pundit, broadcaster, associated, with, timeform, from, 1974, until, 2009, nickname, sage, halifax, well, known, onscreen, relationship, with, john, francome, channel, racing, mcgrath, . Jim McGrath born 22 May 1955 1 is an English horse racing pundit and broadcaster He was associated with Timeform from 1974 until 2009 His nickname is The Sage of Halifax 2 He is well known for his onscreen relationship with John Francome on Channel 4 Racing McGrath had an ambition to become a jockey but after a summer at trainer Bill Marshall s yard at Whitsbury he was advised that he wouldn t make the grade On leaving Brunts School in Mansfield 3 McGrath joined publisher Timeform in 1974 putting the glue on the cards 4 After five years he became a racecourse reporter in 2000 Managing Director and in August 2008 Chairman 5 6 McGrath joined Channel 4 Racing at launch in 1984 as a pundit having started with ITV as a presenter in 1981 He was a member of the British Horseracing Board s Jump Racing Advisory Panel from 1993 until mid 2004 In 2004 he stepped down as a member of the Horserace Writers and Photographers Association Committee In 2005 he became an independent director of the British Horseracing Board a nominee of the Jockey Club 7 and retained this position when the BHB became the British Horseracing Authority in July 2007 McGrath is a breeder and owner with current interests in horses in training with Sylvester Kirk Jamie Osborne and Jonjo O Neill 8 McGrath gave notice of his intention to resign from Timeform on 22 December 2008 Timeform had been bought by Betfair in November 2006 but the reason for McGrath s resignation remained private 6 McGrath maintained his involvement with the charity race day at York in June which had been known from 1971 until 2008 as the Timeform Charity Day but in 2009 became the Macmillan Charity Day On 17 December 2016 it was announced on Channel 4 that this was to be his last appearance as part of the Channel Four Racing Team However when racing returned on ITV in January 2017 surprisingly he did not come back to the network where he started his TV career References edit BIRTHDAYS Racing Post 22 May 2009 page 4 JIM MCGRATH Champions UK plc accessed 16 July 2015 Presenters Channel 4 Television accessed 20 August 2008 The FREEbets org uk Interview Jim McGrath FREEbets Retrieved 16 July 2015 Timeform chief McGrath happy to take on new rivals The Guardian 6 March 2006 Retrieved 5 April 2008 a b McGrath resigns from Timeform Racing Post 10 January 2009 Archived from the original on 21 August 2011 Retrieved 6 May 2009 Jockey Club Appoint Jim McGrath to BHB Board Jockey Club 9 December 2004 Retrieved 24 April 2008 permanent dead link BHA Directors British Horseracing Authority Archived from the original on 14 May 2008 Retrieved 5 April 2008 External links editBio at the British Horseracing Board nbsp This British horse racing biographical article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte nbsp This biographical article related to television journalism in the United Kingdom is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Jim McGrath British commentator amp oldid 1214176971, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
