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Turf Deli Horse Of The Week
Ode To Dr Turf 19/10/01

We’re sure Dr Turf (aka John Rothfield) won’t mind getting an appearance as the Horse of the Week.

Turf Deli was raised on a steady diet of Punter to Punter, the radio show from the late 80’s starring Dr Turf, that combined comedy with punting. It was this show that provided the grounding in both punting and comedy that drives this web site. Indeed, the best literary purchase Turf Deli ever made was a copy of ‘Dr Turf’s Guide to Better Punting" , which for those who want to launch their punting career, is a must read. It details how to get organised, how to do the form, how to bet and how to win and there is not a single mathematical formula in sight.

In the late 1990s Dr Turf took over hosting the breakfast show on Sport 927, the racing industry controlled and owned radio station. Which was always going to be a strained relationship, Dr Turf is known and admired for stating his opinions, and Sport 927 has always been one to stray away from any sort of different point of view, or opinion, or anything at all that is not totally stale and about 20 years old. Try listening to the same old tried presenters and tipsters week in , week out, whipping up the usual frenzy about how unbeatable one of the large stable stars are (although it does mean better odds for the rest of us who pay no attention at all to this sort of banter).

So, it was no surprise when about 2 years ago Dr Turf was suddenly and unceremoniously dumped from the station with no explanation, obviously after ruffling some feathers of some prize racing duck somewhere. This is why, sites like this one and the letters column of the Winning Post are so important - opinions can be stated freely. The rest of the racing media, radio and papers are so stale, so out of touch and so reliant on Racing Club and TAB revenue that they mean very little to the punter down the Pub TAB, who will set up for an afternoon and freely sprout his opinion about horse and jockey for all to hear. Racing is always accused of being 'out of touch' and 'behind the times', and it's not because of its long history and being stuck in its ways - its because of the stifling of any real opinion to the contrary.




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