Race Coast and Hollywoodbets have landed a coup by bringing the renowned horseracing broadcaster Nick Luck to the Hollywoodbets Durban July.
Turf Talk were able to chat to him at Summerveld this morning, but first, the below is a bio on him to just sum up his skills.
Nick Luck (born June 28, 1978) is an acclaimed English sports broadcaster renowned for his coverage of horse racing.
He is a fixture on NBC Sports for U.S. Triple Crown events and serves as an anchor on Racing TV.
Luck previously presented Channel 4 Racing in the UK.
A Harrow School and King’s College London graduate, he has won the Horserace Writers’ & Photographers Association’s Broadcaster of the Year award a record nine times.
He also hosts the Luck on Sunday chat show.
The following link written in 2019 describes his entry into racing, his formative years and his rise: Click here to read how Nick Luck got into racing
Nick said on Thursday morning at Summerveld, “I have only been here for a day and a half and this is my first visit to South Africa, let alone my first visit to Summerveld or Durban, and I’m loving what I’m seeing at the moment.”
He said about the prominence of the July in the U.K., “It is something if you love racing you have always beeen aware of, but every year it falls on the same weekend as the Coral Eclipse at Sandown. I was talking to Michael Roberts earlier and I think he is the only jockey to have won both the July and the Eclipse. We were reminiscing about him winning the Eclipe on Mtoto in 1987 and he was a part of that golden age of jockeys when I was growing up, so it was lovely to see him. But anyway there has always been an awareness of the July, but I have never been able to get here until this year. So it is a belated first trip, but I am delighted to be here and it is clearly the most important and historic race on this continent, so to be here for the 130th running and working with this team is a great honour. So thank you to Devin (Heffer) and Ali (Cohen) and everybody at Hollywoodbets.”
How does Nick prepare for such a trip?
He said, “Well I try and speak to as many people as possible (before he leaves on the trip), try and meet as many of the connections as possible, try and put in calls to as many of the trainers and riders as possible and try and acquaint myself with them. Having a daily podcast helps because you need to generate content everyday and you need to build up to all of the big races internationally. It helps you get au fait with everybody you need to.”
Who does he fancy for the Hollywoodbets Durban July?
Nick said, “This year it looks to be an incredibly open renewal and the fact that it is a long handicap brings everybody into it. We did a preview program yesterday with the broadcast team for Saturday and I think on there alone there were seven or eight different opinions on who would win, which shows just how incredibly open it is. I would say by listening to everybody and to the people who are genuinely expert and not trying to go by my own half-judgement, I have narrowed it down to Note To Self, Zeitz, who has been very popular, and Mocha Blend. That seems to be the little area in the handicap where the shrewd money’s going.”
Nick has been praised by the local broadcasting team for his “incredible knowledge” on all aspects of horseracing and it will be a treat listening to this famous racing afficionado in the build up and on the big day itself.
