Clive Graham was best known for being the BBC’s paddock commentator for many years. He was a friend and colleague of Sir Peter O’Sullevan, both of whom worked for the Daily Express before that. In fact the Old Etonian Graham had worked for the paper since the early 1930s. Graham’s family had wanted him to go into the church – he twice won divinity prizes at school – but for some reason racing had more allure. During WW2 he was a Major in the Royal Armoured Corps and later a war correspondent in the Far East.
In 1949 he began assisting O’Sullevan’s radio, and later TV commentary work as a race-reader. For their first broadcast of the Grand National they were billeted near the first fence. In order to get some elevation, they stood on the sloping corrugated iron roof of a primitive latrine. It was slippery. O’Sullevan’s commentary was prefaced with Graham’s alarmed cries of “Christ! I’m going to fall of thus f—— roof!”
O’Sullevan joined Graham (“The Scout”) on the Express in 1950. Their skill and teamwork led to them both having races named after them at Cheltenham’s April meeting from 1963-65. Their long association was broken only by Graham’s death in August 1974 at the age of 61. He and his wife had been seriously injured in a car crash in May, but his days were already numbered due to cancer.
The Horseracing Writers and Photographers Association, which he founded – and served as president – name their premier annual award, for the best racing journalism of the year, the Clive Graham Trophy.
CHEPSTOW
Chepstow stepped in to commemorate Graham on 15 March 1975, with the Clive Graham Trophy Hurdle added to their richest ever race day, with the Welsh Grand National the established highlight.
The Clive Graham moved around the calendar but returned to March by 1997. On 8 March that year the Peter O’Sullevan Novices Hurdle was added to Chepstow’s card, and as the BBC televised it O’Sullevan commentated on his own race. It was a pity Clive Graham’s race had been pushed back to a separate fixture on the 13th of the month, but that was remedied in 1998 and 1999. Then both of their races were staged on the March Saturday – although Graham’s race wasn’t televised, and it disappeared from the Chepstow schedules afterwards.
I have no information about why Chepstow had a connection with Clive Graham, or vice versa. Perhaps he owned a horse that won there.
GOODWOOD
Just before Graham’s death the Goodwood director Ralph Hubbard asked O’Sullevan whether the thought his friend would like a race named after him at the May meeting. He did, and it was, as part of an extension of Goodwood’s first fixture of the season from two days to three.
The Clive Graham Stakes was a Listed race for older horses run over a mile and a quarter. Rainbow Quest was a notable winner in 1985. However, in the 1990s this decent contest became the Festival Stakes. The Clive Graham was a two-year-old maiden when it last appeared on the Goodwood programme in 1995, belying the closing comments in O’Sullevan’s obituary of Graham. “One thing is sure: the name Clive Graham will live as long as the sport which he illumined so eloquently remains one of the traditions of the country.”
HUNTINGDON
A Clive Graham Memorial Trophy was first run on 5 October 2021 and seems to have become an annual fixture on the programme since 2023.
Sources:
https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/british-broadcasting-s-unflappable-voice-of-racing-1.2310366
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/I+was+about+to+make+my+first+National+call+and+all+I+could+hear+was…-a0223335954
https://vault.si.com/vault/1969/05/19/letter-from-the-publisher
Calling The Horses (Peter O’Sullevan)
The Times obituary, 21 August 1974