McCririck in big bother house

Love him or loathe him, McCririck would make a fascinating subject for In The Psychiatrist's Chair. Educated at Harrow, he seldom discusses his early life and dismisses his early working years by describing himself as a failed bookmaker and failed punter.

The truth is rather different. After a spell working on the backroom team on Grandstand he made his name as a hard-hitting reporter on the now-defunct Sporting Life which yielded a British Press award as specialist writer of the year in 1978 and another for campaigning journalist of the year in 1979.

But the onset of a career in television, which began when anchorman Brough Scott and producer Andrew Franklin identified the need for someone to personify the vitality of the betting market, helped spawn a monster.

Initially, McCririck played a relatively straight bat with his reporting of the market moves, but before long his eccentric dress sense and increasingly extravagant style were opening influential and lucrative doors.

Big bookmakers lived in fear of him attacking their methods live on air. Feminists raged at his extreme views and millions of Americans lapped up his well-worn patter on Jay Leno's hugely popular Tonight show.

Given such high-profile stages to perform on, it's hardly surprising that "Big Mac" began to believe some of his own publicity. And Scott feels that tendency has played a major part in his problems this week.

Scott said: "His shock jock act works well in brief slots, but here he's locked away with people he has nothing in common with. You have to wonder whether the biggest face in racing should really be a balding, sexist old bloke who is live on telly wearing only his underpants."

In truth, those who would like to see racing enjoy a more positive image are wasting their time fretting about whether McCririck's appearance on Big Brother will have any impact on the sport. Existing punters grew used to his predictable act years ago, while only those with vacant space between their ears will assume that such a tired old dinosaur represents the best of what racing has to offer.

Either way, there was something inevitable about racing's most famous mouthpiece fetching up at the Big Brother House. Ladbrokes make him their 5-4 favourite to be packing his bags on Friday night. Much can change, but the odds on him emerging with his reputation enhanced are surely a good deal longer.