John McCririck

John McCririck
McCririck in 2006.
Born	(1940-04-17) 17 April 1940 (age 77) Surbiton, Surrey, England
Occupation	Horse racing pundit, journalist, presenter
Years active	1978–Present
Spouse(s)	Jenny McCririck (m. 1971)

John McCririck (born 17 April 1940) is an English television horse racing pundit.

Born in Surbiton, Surrey, McCririck was educated at Elizabeth College, Guernsey,Victoria College, Jersey, and Harrow School, where his fellow pupils included later fellow racing journalist Julian Wilson. He left with three O-Levels, having also run the book on cross country races.

After failing to get into the diplomatic service, he was briefly a waiter at the Dorchester hotel. During the era when off-course betting was illegal in the UK, he worked for an illegal bookmaker, before becoming a bookmaker himself, which he admits that he failed at. He then became a tic-tac man.

He began his career in journalism at The Sporting Life, where he twice won at the British Press Awards for his campaigning journalism; he was sacked in 1984. He joined the Daily Star, but was later sacked by the newspaper after allegations emerged that he was in debt to his bookmaker; he later successfully sued the paper at an employment tribunal.

Having previously become a results sub-editor on the BBC's Grandstand, from 1981 he joined ITV Sport's horse racing coverage; he had previously appeared in a debate about fox hunting on the ITV children's programme Saturday Banana in 1978. During 1984 and 1985, horse racing moved from ITV to Channel 4 as Channel 4 Racing, where his role was expanded and he reported from the betting ring. His signature flamboyant attire of a large deerstalker hat, sideburns, and brightly coloured matching suits and trousers, coupled with huge cigars, became a recognisable personal style.