announcer

Jessica Paquette never imagined that she would become the full-time announcer at a major racetrack. Neither did anyone else. The job, for as long as the sport has been around, has been a profession that largely excluded women. But when the field loads into the gate at Parx Racing for Tuesday's first race, Paquette will be high atop the grandstand, nervous but excited, and ready to make history. "The best thing we can all hope for in this sport is to leave the game a little bit better than it...

NYRA track announcer John Imbriale received a positive COVID-19 test result after experiencing mild symptoms following the conclusion of the Saratoga meeting, according to NYRA's Senior Director of Communications Patrick McKenna. "As a result of the mandatory 10-day isolation period, Imbriale will miss the opening weekend of the fall meet and is scheduled to return Thursday, Sept. 23," McKenna said. "In his absence, Frank Mirahmadi will handle the race calling duties Thursday, Sept. 16. Chris Griffin, who was named the lead race caller at Parx in March, will call Friday-Sunday....

Trevor Denman will return to the announcer's booth at Del Mar after missing 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are very keen to get back to Del Mar," Denman said. Denman will call the track's 31-day summer season, return to his Minnesota farm and then come back to Southern California for the track's 15-day fall stand starting Nov. 3.

Jason Beem, who has called races at numerous Thoroughbred tracks since 2006, has been hired as the announcer at Tampa Bay Downs. He will begin on June 30, the first day of the track's two-day Summer Festival of Racing. The 41-year-old University of Washington graduate currently announces at Grants Pass Downs in Oregon and will begin his third season at Colonial Downs July 19. At Tampa Bay Downs, he replaces Richard Grunder, who retired on May 2 after 37 years and more than 37,000 races at the Oldsmar oval. "I...

Richard Grunder, the track announcer at Tampa Bay Downs for the past 37 years, is hanging up his binoculars after the May 2 card. Citing health concerns, the 68-year-old has chosen to retire after a lifetime spent in the sport. He is believed to have called in the vicinity of 37,000 races at Tampa Bay Downs and is currently the longest-tenured announcer at any racetrack in the country. "My goal a few years back was to try to go until I was 70, but I've got a medical situation I...

After more than three decades as the voice of Parx Racing, announcer Keith Jones will be stepping away from the microphone at the end of the year. Since 1987, Jones has been the voice of Philadelphia Park/Parx, making him the second longest tenured announcer after Tampa Bay Downs' Richard Grunder. Jones began his career at Garden State Park before moving permanently to Philadelphia Park. "I'll be forever grateful to the management at Greenwood for affording me an opportunity to pursue a career doing something I've thoroughly enjoyed," said Jones. "As...

Tired of all the bad news? So were we. So, in our new series, we focus on the positive, asking people from non-horse racing families two questions: how they get hooked, and how they'll hook someone else on horse racing this year. TOM DURKIN What was the experience that made you fall in love with horse racing? I really had no particular interest in horse racing in my early childhood. My dad would go to the track and that was about it, I never really went with him a lot....