Mike Cattermole, Channel 4 Racing & At The Races presenter & commentator.

From 2010 he will be the lead male presenter of the station's flat racing coverage alongside Emma Spencer. He also presents the very popular sister show, "The Morning Line", broadcast every Saturday on Channel 4 between 8-9am.

His interest in the sport was encouraged at an early age by his father who indeed remains a keen racing fan well into his 70s. Watching the Grand National on TV as a young boy, Mike was soon captivated by the sport and, having watched Red Rum wear down Crisp in that never-to-be-forgotten race of 1973, recalls fighting back the tears as Red Rum completed his historic third win in 1977.

At about that time, Mike became equally fascinated by the Flat racing scene which was dominated in those days by Henry Cecil and his stable jockey Joe Mercer. Kris, a brilliant miler who won 14 of his 16 starts, became an early favourite while under both codes the incomparable Sea Pigeon was carrying all before him.

Mike remembers leaving school early on Champion Hurdle day to watch Sea Pigeon finally master his old rival Monksfield in 1980. He described it later as "the perfect race".

That Mike should follow a career in racing was not any foregone conclusion, although being thrown out of an A-level maths class for reading The Sporting Life under the desk might have been a portent! He went to Keele University to study economics and history where he also represented the university at tennis and was also a regular five-a-side football player.

Having tried - and failed - to find employment in racing, he took a job working for the Exchequer and Audit department. During a tea break, he found an advert in The Sporting Life - Timeform were looking for an editorial assistant. Having got through the famous 50 questions interview from Reg Griffin, Mike was very proud to join the company in the summer of 1984.
"I owe Reg so much for giving me the chance to work in racing. He was a wonderful mentor and Timeform is like the university of horse racing - there simply is no better place to learn and understand this great sport."

The founding of the Racing Post two years later in 1986 meant that there were jobs aplenty going in racing journalism and Mike joined The Sporting Life Weekender, at the same time as Simon Holt and Tony Elves, working under the editorship of Neil Cook. At that time, there were opportunities to write features and do tipping shifts (Man On The Spot) for the daily Sporting Life and it was also then that Mike first had the opportunity to try out some broadcasting when Tony Fairbairn signed him up as part of the Racecall team.

Broadcasting legends Peter Bromley, Raleigh Gilbert and Christopher Poole - and also a young Cornelius Lysaght - were also in situ during the time when pictures had still not appeared in betting offices. Racecall gave listeners a chance to hear the racecourse commentary over the telephone.

Mike, agent for Willie Carson. (Photo circa 1990 going by the size of the phone!).

Through the recommendation of his former Timeform colleague Jim McGrath, Mike took up a position as Willie Carson's agent at the end of 1988 with the brief to try and add one more jockeys' title to the five-time champion's haul.
"I had my L plates on for the first year but then Willie and I enjoyed some fabulous seasons. But, to my frustration, Pat Eddery was impossible to catch. Mind you, it did help that he had a full-time agent - his brother-in-law Terry Ellis. I was combining the job with my duties at the paper and the closest we got to Pat was 10 behind. But we must have ruffled his feathers as I received one or two abusive phone calls from Terry in those days!"

Carson won 700 races in the five seasons that Mike was his agent and on Northumberland Plate day at Newcastle in 1990, rode six winners in the seven-race card. He also enjoyed his best-ever season that year - 187.

When Mike started focusing on racecourse commentating in 1993, it was a parting of the ways with Willie whose retirement was just around the corner. The first call for Mike came at Fontwell Park when clerk of the course Cliff Griggs welcomed him to the track with the advice of "don't f*** it up!"

Mike presenting for The Racing Channel in 1995.

Mike began presenting in front of the camera for the first time in 1995 with the launch of The Racing Channel under the guidance of George Irvine at SIS. He joined the Channel 4 Racing team in 1999 after being approached by Andrew Franklin, the executive producer and soon became a regular presenter and pundit on The Morning Line as well as presenting, paddock or race commentating during the afternoon shows.

When the Racing Channel stopped broadcasting, Attheraces was formed with Channel 4 backing the channel. Mike was asked to launch the channel with its first broadcast in 2003 and was then a regular presenter of Lunchtime Attheraces, a half-hour programme which featured one race and a celebrity guest in the studio.

Mike in the At The Races studio in 2010.

The first Attheraces was wound up when flaws in the business plan became apparent and this led to the relaunch of "At The Races" with the support of Sky. At The Races continues to thrive commercially and critically and at the Digital Channel Awards was named the "Best Specialist Channel" in 2006 and then the "Best Sports Service" in 2008.

After being beaten by just one vote by Clare Balding in the poll among the Horseracewriters and Photographers Association for the Broadcaster of the Year, Mike topped the poll to win the coveted award the following year in 2006.

From 2010, Mike has been appointed as the lead co-presenter for Channel 4 Racing's Flat coverage...a role who he is looking forward to very much working alongside Emma Spencer.

Mike with Emma Spencer, the presenting duo for Channel 4 Racing on the flat.