Lee Mottershead and The Foront Page

Lee Mottershead began working at the Racing Post twenty five years ago.

When young, he wanted to write about horses. He bought the very first Racing Post ever issued. In due course he applIed to the paper for a job - any job.

In the 1967 movie How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, the hero is warned that anyone who works in advertising is ‘in terrible trouble’. That was the only department at the Post that would have Lee. It was ‘the bottom rung’ he admitted.

After five years of grind he was finally allowed to write. From Worcester, on the day of the St Leger 2001, he filed copy.

Now he is Senior Writer and a three-time winner of the Racing Writer of the Year award. He produces up to 7000 words per week (equivalent to four novels a year) and has published three books.

How did a working class Blackburn lad with no horsey or journalistic background get where he is? ‘My dad was a factory worker, my mum was a housewife, but they used to watch racing on a Saturday afternoon. I just became infatuated. I was never much interested in football or any other sport’.

Despite his workload, which includes appearances on other platforms, Lee has somehow found time to create The Front Page. It’s a 30-minute filmed podcast available on Youtube every Monday. He and two colleagues sit around a table and talk racing.

The new programme isn’t to be confused with another racing show many remember. The Morning Line was abrasive, loud and funny, and managed to be both macho and camp at the same time. It was made brilliant by the wit and knowledge of Alastair Down, John McCririck (‘I had huge affection for John’ says Lee), and others.

The Front Page, in its presentation, couldn’t be more different. There is no roguish badinage, no one raises their voice or interrupts. It is as though three very well-brought up young people have convened, with instructions to behave in an impeccable way.

‘We don’t want the characters to be seen to be more important than the subjects we’re discussing’ explains Lee. ‘We’re not claiming to be media-luvvies. We want to present to viewers as we do to readers.

We can voice strong views and strong opinions but in a way that isn’t a pantomime’.

The star of this show, therefore, is whatever topic is under the microscope. The three most compelling racing issues of the week are taken one at a time. The debate is forensic and, most important, fearless. Mild manners conceal trenchant views which, given the format, find their full expression.

Nothing is off limits. The Jockey Club was recently given a proper filleting for its bonkers decision to let off fireworks at the Derby. No mercy was shown. Since telling the truth - at least as far as each individual is concerned - will inevitably create enemies, this show, in due course, is guaranteed to make plenty of the right kind of trouble.

Monday evening, The Front Page. That should be in every diary. Miss it and you will miss something that matters.