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 ten 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").
The first race ever called happened at Agua Caliente Racetrack at Tijuana. On February 5, steward George Schilling called the first race. He started immediately to develop future race callers Clem McCarthy and Joe Hernandez.
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, one of 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 first race ever called happened at Agua Caliente Racetrack at Tijuana. On February 5, steward George Schilling called the first race. He started immediately to develop future race callers Clem McCarthy and Joe Hernandez.[1]
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, one of 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.
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