Racing commentator uses four-horse race in Tauranga to take a pop at the Wallabies' World Cup hopes.

Veteran horse racing commentator George Simon interrupted his call of the fourth race on the card at Tauranga on Wednesday to tell a joke.

Not captivated by the four-horse field, which made the race a glorified trial, Simon saw it as an opportunity to deliver a gag about Snow White, a car crash and the Rugby World Cup. According to Simon, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs are in a car crash, after which Snow White is the first to emerge.

"Can anybody hear me in there?" asks Snow White.

George Simon livens up a four-race horse race.

After a few moments a little voice pipes up.

"Australia will win the Rugby World Cup."

"Thank goodness," said Snow White. "Dopey is still alive."

By the end of the joke the horses were nearing the home straight and Simon resumed his call.

It's not the first time he's told jokes on course. In 1997 Simon rolled out a selection of Irish jokes during a meeting at Matamata, in which fog had made the horses invisible from his commentary position.

An Irishman lodged a formal complaint with the racing club and Simon was asked to apologise.