Racing: Jacket of many colours

The pressure's still on Tony Lee.

That's despite the lower North Island horse racing commentator passing one of his toughest tests Saturday when calling the Wellington Cup at Trentham.

Lee's task was made all the harder with the decision that the jockeys' racing silks would be in colours devised by paint company Dulux, the race's sponsor.

To the great relief of Lee, his call of the race seemed to go without a hiccup but he now has a new task on his hand - painting his house.

As a gesture to Lee, Dulux has supplied him with enough paint to cover his house.

"All I need now is someone to paint it," Lee quipped.

Lee's situation was heightened by the fact the Wellington Cup is his biggest race of the year and that he had bungled last year's call.

Lee had mistakenly called winner Cluden Creek by the name of a former stablemate, Cautious Cluden, throughout the race.

A year later, the incident was still clearly on his mind.

"Leading up to it, it was hard, especially after last year," Lee said.

He had friend Butch Castles alongside him in case something went wrong.

"But I was pretty happy with the way it all went. "To chase that demon away is fantastic for me."

- NZPA