Julian David Bonhote Wilson (21 June 1940 – 20 April 2014) was

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

correspondent from 1966 until his retirement in 1997. He was succeeded by

Clare Balding Clare Victoria Balding (born 29 January 1971) is an English broadcast journalist and author. She currently presents programmes for BBC Sport and Channel 4, and previously for BT Sport. She also formerly presented ''Good Morning Sunday'' on BBC ...

. Between 1969 and 1992, he was one of the commentators for the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

and for a time he had editorial control over the BBC's midweek racing coverage. He was born in

Sidmouth Sidmouth () is a town on the English Channel in Devon, South West England, southeast of Exeter. With a population of 13,258 in 2021, it is a tourist resort and a gateway to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. A large part of the town has ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

; his father was the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'' sportswriter Peter Wilson; his grandfather was the ''Times'' and ''Mirror'' sportswriter Frederic Wilson. Outside his presenting career, he was a racehorse owner and racing manager. His winners as an owner included Tumbledownwind, a two-year-old winner at Goodwood, and Tykeyvor, a winner in the Bessborough Stakes at

Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, about 25 miles west of London. Ascot is used for thoroughbred horse racing, and it hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 races and three Gra ...

in 1996, trained by Lady Herries. He was a racehorse manager to

Clement Freud Sir Clement Raphael Freud (24 April 1924 – 15 April 2009) was a British media personality, broadcaster, writer, politician and chef. The son of Ernst L. Freud and grandson of Sigmund Freud, Clement moved to the United Kingdom from Nazi Germany ...

and Walter Mariti. Wilson was a former pupil of

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

Broadcasting

During his debut Grand National commentary in 1969, Wilson covered the first 4 fences on both circuits. The following year only he and Peter O'Sullevan provided commentary. From 1971 three commentators were again used for the National and Wilson was stationed out at

Becher's Brook Becher's Brook ( ) is a fence jumped during the Grand National, a National Hunt Horse racing, horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. It is jumped twice during the race, as the and fence, as well as on four othe ...

where he would remain until 1992. Wilson's final broadcast on the BBC's ''

Grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators, typically at sports stadiums and including both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium i ...

'' programme was on Saturday 20 December 1997 with racing from Ascot. The BBC also showed highlights and memories of his broadcasting career. The final broadcast of his career came a week later (27 December) as BBC 2 showed racing from Chepstow which included the Welsh Grand National. In his autobiography ''Some You Win'', published in 1998, he revealed a rift with

Peter O'Sullevan Sir Peter O'Sullevan (3 March 1918 – 29 July 2015) was an Irish-British horse racing commentator for the BBC, and a correspondent for the Press Association, the ''Daily Express'', and ''Today''. He was the BBC's leading horse racing commen ...

, his long-time colleague at the BBC. Wilson felt that he had been misled as to whether or not he would succeed O`Sullevan as chief BBC race commentator. He also said that he had a strained relationship with Clare Balding.

Personal life

He was twice married: firstly to Carolyn Michael in 1970, then to Alison Ramsay in 1981. He had one son, Thomas, with his first wife. Wilson died of cancer on 20 April 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Julian 1940 births 2014 deaths People educated at Harrow School BBC newsreaders and journalists British horse racing commentators BBC sports presenters and reporters People from Sidmouth