PUNDIT PROFILE DAN BARBER
How did your passion for racing start? Via a path a certain Middleham Flat trainer seems to think isn’t the more popular one! For me, betting came before any ‘love’ of the thoroughbred. I grew up in a town called Hyde, a few miles outside Manchester, so, suffice to say, I didn’t get to pat or feed Polos to many horses before I took an interest in trying to work out from afar which one might win a race. My uncle owned (still owns) a few Flat horses and that, allied with regular midweek evening trips to Belle Vue greyhounds to watch my friend’s dad’s dog (Groine Express), began to sow a seed that has been there ever since.
Were you always going to be involved with racing? As alluded to above, a path into racing would have been fairly long odds-against in my early years – back then I wanted to be a footballer. But playing some tough sides – with players boasting a height and weight advantage – around the Manchester area quickly taught me that, despite my dribbling skills, I wasn’t quite hardy enough to follow that path!
Who’s your mentor? Many to choose from – starting with Emily Weber, Richard Austen and Matt Williams, who were so good to me in my temporary placement writing Spotlights for the Racing Post immediately out of university. But two others who came later stand out. Simon Walker was my early boss at Timeform and has always been very good at cutting out the noise and focusing on what matters in analysing racing, while a fellow colleague in Halifax, Matt Taylor, remains the sharpest racing and betting brain I’ve ever had the pleasure to interact with. And even now, I talk with the likes of Martin Dixon and David Johnson nearly every day and, as such, always feel like you are expanding your knowledge in some way.
How did you get into broadcasting? Timeform Radio had just started and, with the firm keen to give their own editorial staff a chance, I
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agreed to do a shiſt on there to see how it went. All I recall are the nerves – so bad, in fact, I had to ask my guvnor Kieran Packman to accompany me for the first hour or so in case I was reduced to a quaking shell of a human being! Not long aſter, Timeform and At The Races struck up a relationship and they were good enough to take a chance that I could talk on television without needing someone to hold my hand alongside!
Which broadcasters do you admire the most – racing or otherwise? I admire so many within racing and, luckily, have got to work with them and consider them friends – I’m yet to add Nick Luck to those with whom I’ve shared a screen, but the likes of Sean Boyce and Lydia Hislop are just proper people; professional, full of integrity, engaging and also interested in what you have to say. Outside the racing bubble, I always think of NFL coverage as a beacon as the sport is so layered. Tony Romo and Jeff Reinebold have taught me so much about the sport.
Funniest moment on air? Well it won’t be one of my many bad puns! And I best not mention the time I swore under my breath on air thinking my connection had ended, as I was utterly mortified for a few days aſter.
What can broadcasters do to enhance racing coverage? I very much doubt, aſter so many years of coverage, there’s some broadcasting elixir that will transform the sport to a level that attracts thousands of new viewers all at once. That said, I am a big believer that the viewer derives more from watching broadcasts live from the track and think RTV has that priority down to a T.
Golden advice for punters? I don’t think it’s rocket science, even if I can’t say I practice what I preach day in, day out. Work very
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