By Lee McKenzie BBC Radio Five Live racing commentator

A little part of Epsom will be missing from the 2003 Vodafone Derby on Saturday, following the death of the former BBC racing correspondent and commentator, Peter Bromley, during the week leading up to the big event.

Peter had retired from the commentary box immediately after Galileo's Derby win in 2001, leaving an almost endless trail of commentary archive that will be accessed and replayed for years to come.

The fact that he lived to see only one more running of the premier Classic is very hard to take - he deserved many years of happy retirement after serving his sport and profession so magnificently for more than 40 years.

Peter's special talent was his natural ability to transcend the world of sports commentary - the magical way he could transform himself into a unique piece of one-man radio theatre.

He didn't just describe the racing; he took you to the very seat of the action and placed you into the grandstand alongside him.

A generation of young racing fans was captivated by listening to Peter at all the major events, his voice managing to invoke so many emotions - authoritative yet warm, excitable yet exquisitely controlled.

Enthralled

I can remember discreetly listening to the 1974 Cheltenham Gold Cup on a pair of earphones at the back of a classroom while apparently engaged in what was known as 'private studies'.

I have since learned that many modern-day broadcasters engaged themselves in similar activity!

From a personal point of view, it was through listening to Peter that I decided to follow a career in racing commentary.

Having been enthralled by his description of the 1973 Grand National, the first won by Red Rum, I was to work at Aintree alongside Peter for the first time ten years later.

Bromley mixed easily with racing's elite

We continued as friends and colleagues for another 18 years - and the novelty never wore off.

Peter's great legacy was to remind all radio sports commentators that there is more to their job than simply identifying the players or, in his case, the horses.

It is all about recreating the atmosphere in that little box we used to call the 'wireless' - and it that respect he was supreme.

This year's Derby, like all future runnings, will retain its position as one of the truly magical occasions in the British sporting calendar.

But Peter's monumental contribution to its glorious history will never be forgotten.