Race caller

A race caller is a public-address announcer or sportscaster who describes the progress of a race, either for on-track or radio and TV fans. They are most prominent in horse racing, auto racing and track-and-field events.

Among the jobs of a race caller is to identify the positions of various entrants during the race, and point out any sudden moves made by them. In horse racing, many callers also point out the posted fractions -- the times at which the lead horse reached the quarter-mile, half-mile and similar points of a race.

A race-caller who specifically describes the event over a racetrack's public-address system is the "track announcer."In horse racing, track announcers handle up to nine or 10 races per day; more on special stakes-race days.

Most horse-race callers memorize the horses' and jockeys' (or drivers in harness racing) silks and the horses' colors before the race, to be able to quickly identify each entrant. During a racing day, track announcers also inform patrons of scratches, and jockey/driver and equipment changes (for example, whether a horse is wearing "quarter inch bends" or "mud caulks".

History

Among the earliest prominent race callers was Clem McCarthy. According to the book "Sports on New York Radio," McCarthy was hired in 1927 as the first track announcer at Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois, the first Thoroughbred racetrack with a public-address system. He later gained national fame calling important horse races for the NBC Radio Network, including the Kentucky Derby, starting in 1929.

Other prominent race callers were early sportscasters Ted Husing, Bill Stern, and Marty Glickman, all of whom called horse racing and track-and-field events during their careers.

The best-known horse-race callers since the dawn of the television age have been Chic Anderson, Dave Johnson, Trevor Denman and Tom Durkin. All four gained acclaim not only as public-address announcers but network sportscasters, providing pre-race analyses and features for national fans as well as the race calls.

Other prominent horse-race callers of recent decades have included Marshall Cassidy, Cawood Ledford, Fred Capposella, Luke Kruytbosch, Michael Wrona, Joe Hernandez, Frank Mirahmadi, Larry Collmus, Peter Berry, Dogs Dolan, John Dooley, Phil Georgeff, John Imbriale, Ken Warkentin, Ken Vick, Kurt Becker, John Lies, Travis Stone, Vic Stauffer, Mike Battaglia, Greg Wry, Jeff Taylor and Terry Wallace, who, as of March 29, 2008, has not missed a race at Oaklawn Park in 34 years. Harness-racing fixtures are Larry Lederman, Bullet Bob Meyer, Roger Huston, Jack E. Lee and Sam McKee, In track and field, one of the most prominent race callers is Tom Hammond of NBC Sports, who also anchors the network's horse-racing coverage.