Peter O'Sullevan
Encyclopedia
Sir Peter O'Sullevan is a retired horse racing
commentator
for the BBC
from 1947 to 1997, and correspondent for the Press Association
, Daily Express
and Today.
, resident magistrate at Killarney
, and Vera (née Henry), Peter O'Sullevan was educated at Hawtreys
, Charterhouse School
, and at Collège Alpin International Beau Soleil
in Switzerland
.
before it was televised for the first time in 1960).
On television, he was the voice who guided viewers through many of the biggest events of the racing year, from the Cheltenham Festival
(until 1994), to the Grand National
and Epsom Derby
(until 1997), Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood
. During his career, he called around 30 renewals of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
in Paris and racing from the United States and Ireland as well as trotting from Rome during the 1960s.
During his 50 years of commentating the world's most famous steeplechase, the Grand National, O'Sullevan called home numerous historic victories. These included Bob Champion
's heroic run on Aldaniti
in 1981
after recovering from cancer, 100/1 outsider Foinavon
's remarkable win in 1967
, and the three-times winner Red Rum
in 1973
, 1974 and 1977
. Perhaps one of the most infamous Grand Nationals he was involved in was in 1993
, which was declared void after 30 of the 39 runners failed to realise there had been a false start, and seven even went on to complete the course. As the runners approached the second-last fence in the race that never was, O'Sullevan declared it "the greatest disaster in the history of the Grand National." His lucid explanations and observations of the unfolding events only served to help cement them as historic moments in sporting history.
O'Sullevan became known as the "Voice of Racing". In a television interview before his 50th and last Grand National in 1997
he revealed that his commentary binoculars came from a German submarine. He was knighted the same year - the only sports broadcaster at that time to have been bestowed that honour.
O'Sullevan is a successful racehorse owner, including Be Friendly who won the King's Stand Stakes
at Ascot, and Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp. He was twice successful in the Haydock Sprint Cup
in 1966 and 1967. Another popular horse he owned was Attivo, whose victory in the 1974 Triumph Hurdle
at the Cheltenham Festival
was described by O'Sullevan as the most difficult race to call. After passing the line, O'Sullevan uttered: "And it's first Attivo, owned by, uh, Peter O'Sullevan... trained by Cyril Mitchell and ridden by Robert Hughes."
Attivo also won the Chester Cup
and the Northumberland Plate during the 1970s. O'Sullevan's final race commentary came at Newbury
for the 1997 Hennessy Gold Cup, and he visited the winners' enclosure as a winning owner in the race which followed courtesy of Sounds Fyne's victory in the Fulke Walwyn Chase. He was succeeded as the BBC's lead commentator by Jim McGrath
.
Since his retirement, O'Sullevan has been actively involved in charity work fundraising for causes which revolve around the protection of horses, including the International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH) and the Thoroughbred Rehabilitation Centre.
The National Hunt Challenge Chase Cup (ran at the Cheltenham Festival) was named for him in 2008 to celebrate his 90th birthday.
In 2010, Aintree Racecourse
named O'Sullevan as one of the five inaugural "Grand National Legends". His name is inscribed on a commemorative plaque at the course, alongside the likes of Ginger McCain
and Captain Martin Becher
.
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
commentator
Sports commentator
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
from 1947 to 1997, and correspondent for the Press Association
Press Association
The Press Association is the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland, supplying multimedia news content to almost all national and regional newspapers, television and radio news, as well as many websites with text, pictures, video and data content globally...
, Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
and Today.
Early life
The son of Colonel John Joseph O'Sullevan DSODistinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
, resident magistrate at Killarney
Killarney
Killarney is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is located north of the MacGillicuddy Reeks, on the northeastern shore of the Lough Lein/Leane which are part of Killarney National Park. The town and its surrounding region are home to St...
, and Vera (née Henry), Peter O'Sullevan was educated at Hawtreys
Hawtreys
Hawtreys Preparatory School was an independent boys' preparatory school, first established in Slough, later moved to Westgate-on-Sea, then to Oswestry, and finally to a country house near Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire...
, Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
, and at Collège Alpin International Beau Soleil
Collège Alpin International Beau Soleil
Collège Alpin International Beau Soleil is a private international school founded in 1910 and located in Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland. Beau Soleil is the most expensive school in the world. It is one of the oldest boarding schools in Switzerland...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
Career
O'Sullevan was involved in some of the earliest television commentaries on any sport in the late 1940s, and also did many radio commentaries in his earlier years (including the Grand NationalGrand National
The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...
before it was televised for the first time in 1960).
On television, he was the voice who guided viewers through many of the biggest events of the racing year, from the Cheltenham Festival
Cheltenham Festival
The Cheltenham Festival is one of the most prestigious meetings in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, and has race prize money second only to the Grand National...
(until 1994), to the Grand National
Grand National
The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...
and Epsom Derby
Epsom Derby
The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
(until 1997), Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood
Glorious Stakes
The Glorious Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late July or early August.-History:The event was established in 1979, and...
. During his career, he called around 30 renewals of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year, usually on the first Sunday in October.Popularly referred to as the...
in Paris and racing from the United States and Ireland as well as trotting from Rome during the 1960s.
During his 50 years of commentating the world's most famous steeplechase, the Grand National, O'Sullevan called home numerous historic victories. These included Bob Champion
Bob Champion
Robert "Bob" Champion MBE was born in Guisborough, in the north of England, on 4 June 1948. He is an English jump jockey who won the 1981 Grand National on Aldaniti. His triumph was made into a film Champions, with John Hurt portraying Champion...
's heroic run on Aldaniti
Aldaniti
Aldaniti , , was a famous racehorse who won the Grand National on 4 April 1981. Jockey Bob Champion famously recovered from cancer while Aldaniti recovered after suffering a career threatening injury. The horse was trained by Josh Gifford...
in 1981
1981 Grand National
The 1981 Grand National was the 135th renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, in April 1981....
after recovering from cancer, 100/1 outsider Foinavon
Foinavon
Foinavon was a relatively undistinguished Irish racehorse, until he became famous for winning the Grand National in 1967 after the rest of the field fell, refused or were hampered or brought down in a mêlée at the 23rd fence. He was at one time owned by Anne, Duchess of Westminster, whose colours...
's remarkable win in 1967
1967 Grand National
Much of the early stages of the race were inconsequential, with 28 of the 44 competitors having safely cleared the 22nd fence, Becher's Brook on the second circuit....
, and the three-times winner Red Rum
Red Rum
Red Rum was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse who achieved an unmatched historic treble when he won the Grand National in 1973, 1974 and 1977, and also came second in the two intervening years...
in 1973
1973 Grand National
The 1973 Grand National was the 127th renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at the Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 31 March 1973....
, 1974 and 1977
1977 Grand National
The 1977 Grand National was the 131st renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 2 April 1977....
. Perhaps one of the most infamous Grand Nationals he was involved in was in 1993
1993 Grand National
The 1993 Grand National was scheduled on 3 April 1993 to be the 147th official renewal of the Grand National horse race, held annually at Aintree near Liverpool, England....
, which was declared void after 30 of the 39 runners failed to realise there had been a false start, and seven even went on to complete the course. As the runners approached the second-last fence in the race that never was, O'Sullevan declared it "the greatest disaster in the history of the Grand National." His lucid explanations and observations of the unfolding events only served to help cement them as historic moments in sporting history.
O'Sullevan became known as the "Voice of Racing". In a television interview before his 50th and last Grand National in 1997
1997 Grand National
The 1997 Grand National was the 150th official renewal of the world-famous Grand National steeplechase held at Aintree near Liverpool, England...
he revealed that his commentary binoculars came from a German submarine. He was knighted the same year - the only sports broadcaster at that time to have been bestowed that honour.
O'Sullevan is a successful racehorse owner, including Be Friendly who won the King's Stand Stakes
King's Stand Stakes
The King's Stand Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 5 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in June.-History:...
at Ascot, and Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp. He was twice successful in the Haydock Sprint Cup
Haydock Sprint Cup
The Sprint Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Haydock Park over a distance of 6 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in early September....
in 1966 and 1967. Another popular horse he owned was Attivo, whose victory in the 1974 Triumph Hurdle
Triumph Hurdle
The Triumph Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and 1 furlong , and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped...
at the Cheltenham Festival
Cheltenham Festival
The Cheltenham Festival is one of the most prestigious meetings in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, and has race prize money second only to the Grand National...
was described by O'Sullevan as the most difficult race to call. After passing the line, O'Sullevan uttered: "And it's first Attivo, owned by, uh, Peter O'Sullevan... trained by Cyril Mitchell and ridden by Robert Hughes."
Attivo also won the Chester Cup
Chester Cup
The Chester Cup is a flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Chester over a distance of 2 miles, 2 furlongs and 147 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in May....
and the Northumberland Plate during the 1970s. O'Sullevan's final race commentary came at Newbury
Newbury Racecourse
Newbury Racecourse is a racecourse in the civil parish of Greenham, adjoining the town of Newbury in Berkshire, England. It has courses for flat races and over jumps...
for the 1997 Hennessy Gold Cup, and he visited the winners' enclosure as a winning owner in the race which followed courtesy of Sounds Fyne's victory in the Fulke Walwyn Chase. He was succeeded as the BBC's lead commentator by Jim McGrath
Jim McGrath (Australian commentator)
Jim Aloysius McGrath is the BBC's senior horse racing commentator. He was previously deputy race commentator, and sometimes a paddock commentator.-Career:...
.
Since his retirement, O'Sullevan has been actively involved in charity work fundraising for causes which revolve around the protection of horses, including the International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH) and the Thoroughbred Rehabilitation Centre.
The National Hunt Challenge Chase Cup (ran at the Cheltenham Festival) was named for him in 2008 to celebrate his 90th birthday.
In 2010, Aintree Racecourse
Aintree Racecourse
Aintree Racecourse is a racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England.It was served by Aintree Racecourse railway station until the station closed in the 1960s....
named O'Sullevan as one of the five inaugural "Grand National Legends". His name is inscribed on a commemorative plaque at the course, alongside the likes of Ginger McCain
Ginger McCain
Donald "Ginger" McCain was an English National Hunt trainer, perhaps best known for training the legendary horse Red Rum. A successful trainer who won many races, he trained Red Rum on Crosby beach near Liverpool...
and Captain Martin Becher
Martin Becher
Martin William Becher was a former soldier and steeplechase jockey in whose memory the infamous Becher's Brook obstacle at Aintree Racecourse is named.-Military career:...
.