His stentorian, almost military tones - which could turn almost instantly from calm Received Pronunciation to a roar of grand excitement - captured the drama and potency of horse racing, and his tireless championing of the sport within the BBC led to a dramatic expansion in the number of races covered - from only 50 a year in the early 1960s to over 250 by the 1980s, although in his later years that number would decline again. He was also responsible for the launch of a daily racing bulletin in 1964, which was cancelled in June 2007 when the bulletin was broadcast on Five Live.