Horse Racing: Legendy Commentator Sir Peter O'Sullevan Dies At 97

Legendary horse racing commentator Sir Peter O'Sullevan - a figure dubbed the voice of the sport - has died at his home in London at the age of 97.

Sir Peter was one of the leading voices in professional sport for decades, but had been ill for some time before his death.

He commentated on 50 Grand Nationals with the BBC estimating he had covered 14,000 races before he retired in 1997, and was one of the finest sports commentators in broadcasting, using heavy binoculars in the early days of television to pick out the horses in the field rather than rely on the aid of a TV monitor.


Born in County Kerry in Ireland in 1918, he was the BBC's leading racing commentator for 50 years. He began in the very earliest days of TV commentaries in the late 1940s and worked on radio before the Grand National was televised for the first time in 1960.

O'Sullevan was a successful racehorse owner while he worked for the Daily Express for 36 years and also contributed to the Press Association.

He was recognised for his outstanding contribution to the sport in 2008 when the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival named the race after him to celebrate his 90th birthday.

He had an electric voice when commentating on the sport, making many races sound absorbing affairs before building to a rousing crescendo that would keep interested parties - especially punters with money at stake - on tenterhooks until the winning horse had been declared.

He lost his wife Patricia of 63 years when she died of Alzheimer's disease in 2010. In the same year, Sir Peter was named one of eight "Grand National Legends" by Aintree Racecourse.