The Road to 100 Race Calls!

My journey began at the young age of 11 years old when I started pretending to call harness races from old programs in my living room. I dreamed of calling a real race one day. That dream became a reality much quicker than I anticipated, in October of the 2014 racing season at Leamington Raceway. I approached the racetrack executive about calling a race on kid’s day. I was thrilled when Lakeshore Horse Racing Association and track announcer Marty Adler approved me to announce a race on Kids day. The date was October 19^th 2014 and I was extremely nervous because I was only 12 years old at the time. I kept practising the horses over and over in my head, to prepare. There was a huge crowd and luckily the call was decent and I was happy with it. Ever since then I started calling a race at every kid’s day event and the odd race occasionally to help get myself some practise. All the practise helped me for the 2019 racing season where I got to call two races every single race card, which was an amazing opportunity. During the 2019 season I also got to announce my first full race card on September 1^st with 10 races. I was thankful for all the family and friends that came out to support me that day. Its been an amazing journey at Leamington Raceway, where I started working in 2014 in the backstretch opening and closing the gates for the horses. In 2017 I got to take on a new challenge, in a new position as track host, where I host interviews and live prerace shows as well as providing trackside commentary. All those things have certainly helped me as a young race caller, I am so thankful for all the opportunities Leamington Raceway and Lakeshore Horse Racing Association has given me.

More doors opened in May 2017 when I was invited to announce some races at Flamboro Downs thanks to track announcer Gary Guy. This was a huge opportunity for me because it was the first bigger track I got to announce at and I was only 15 at the time. I was happy with how the couple of races that I announced went. Later in August 2017 Gary Guy gave me the mic again, this time at Grand River Raceway, and I was very pumped to announce at another big track. Getting opportunities at these type of tracks was a huge step forward for me especially getting to do it at the age of 15, which led to even more invitations within the next year.

Later in 2017, between Christmas and New Years, I connected with Ayers Ratliff at Northfield Park for the first time and he responded with a generous offer to announce my first call in the United States. I really enjoyed meeting announcer Ayers Ratliff and co-worker Michael Carter who made me feel at comfortable at the home of the flying turns in Ohio. That snowy night proved challenging and I had my first experience calling a race in blizzard-like conditions. I can still remember the white out at the finish line! Regardless, the call still went well and I was able to post my call online. The tracks in Ohio have a huge fan base and this experience really helped me get my name out there and get more of a social media following. Social media is the key to promotion of my work in the industry.

Following on the momentum built at Northfield, I jumped on an invite in early January in 2018 by London’s Western Fair Raceway announcer Shannon Sugar Doyle to be a guest on his prerace show providing my selections for the race card and chatting about my passion for the industry. I was pleasantly surprised when Sugar asked me to call a race during the card that night, which I had been dying to do since I called my first race! It was addicting though and it made me want to call more. Luckily I have been invited back a few times and now feel quite comfortable in the “eye in the London sky”. Sugar really has gone out of his way to give me experience whenever he can. The industry needs more people like him who celebrate other people’s success! London fans have been amazingly supportive as well and I feel like I am heading in the right direction towards making an impression in the Toronto area. I haven’t received my chance yet, but I am ready for when it happens.

2018 kept rolling with a warm invite in March to announce at my 5^th track, which happened to be Pompano Park during our March break vacation. This was the biggest track I have announced at and I was more nervous being it is a 5/8 mile track and I’ve only ever announced at ½ mile tracks.  I wanted to give this a shot though and see what happened. Turns out, it wasn’t my best race call but I learned some tricks that I knew would help me in the future.  Announcer Gabe Prewitt was understanding and helpful, knowing I would improve for my next visit that would happen the following March in 2019. That year I definitely had more confidence, that is until legendary announcer Frank Salive and Hall of Fame driver John Campbell showed up in the announcer booth to listen to my call! Talk about pressure!  What a memory that I will treasure forever. I was pumped to go back to Florida this past March but unfortunately COVID-19 put a stop to that. This is definitely one of my favourite tracks to go to because of the history there, the sunshine and of course how welcoming Gabe Prewitt and John Berry have always been. I look forward to going back in the future. 

2018 continued to be exciting when in May I got an exciting job opportunity at Dresden Raceway, being the Ontrack host, twitter social media coordinator, program handicapper and backup announcer. This was amazing for me because I was only 16 at the time and this meant more chances to call races and do interviews, and I was getting a lot more time behind the mic. I returned in the 2019 racing season and by this time track announcer Gary Patterson let me call two races every card. Gary has given me the most opportunities out of anyone and I’m so thankful for all the mentoring he has given me. I really hope I get to be involved in Dresden in the future, I have really enjoyed my time there. 

The 8^th track I got to announce at is Miami Valley Raceway in Ohio, when a connection with starting gate driver Mike Woebkenberg led us to making a trip to that racetrack in April 2019. When we arrived at the track, I got to meet track announcer Barry Vicroy and I asked him if I could call on the 5/8 track. Not only did he say yes but he said I could call two races!  To make that night even better I got to go on the live prerace show before I announced to talk about my selections for that race and to talk about my story in the harness racing business. It was a lot of fun that night at this racetrack, especially getting to ride in the Mike Woebkenberg starting gate for a couple of races. That was a great thrill! Overall, this was an exceptionally good experience and opportunity getting to announce at another big track, it helped me gain more experience on a 5/8 track and get more races under my belt. By far the biggest stepping stone yet came on a Saturday night in September 2019 at Hiawatha Horse Park in Sarnia when I got to fill in as announcer for the 11-race card at the age of 17. I jumped all over the opportunity when track announcer Dave Walls reached out to me to see if I was up to the challenge. I was ready and I put a lot of preparation into it. I knew this was what I had been working towards for the past 5 years. Calling the entire card that night was a dream come true and I really hope I get to call more full cards in the future. I know that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

Each year I set goals for things I want to accomplish. For 2020 I set two goals. The first was to reach 100 race calls by my 18^th birthday in March and the second was to announce a race at Woodbine Mohawk Park. It did not take long to reach my goal of 100 race calls lifetime, and it happened 3 weeks before my 18^th birthday so it was perfect timing. I reached my goal on Friday February 7^th at Western Fair Raceway, when track announcer Sugar Doyle reached out to me asking if I could call a couple races on the Friday night and of course I said yes. I went up that night to call the 6^th race and I was sitting at 95 lifetime calls so I was very close to my goal. After calling one race Sugar asked me to call a couple more. At race 9 I was now sitting at 99 lifetime race calls. I was cautiously optimistic that this would happen for me that night! After my 99^th race call in the 9^th race Sugar gave me the go ahead to call the 10^th race and I was over the moon because I knew my goal was going to be realized that night. I am very thankful that Sugar Doyle and Western Fair Raceway gave me this opportunity to call the entire second half of the race card that night to reach my goal. I was so happy with all the hits I got on social media and that I was able to reach my goal of 100 race calls in my teenage years. After that experience I now sit at 100 race calls lifetime and have announced at 9 different racetracks overall.

Sadly, I have not gotten any announcing opportunities with all the racetracks shut down due to covid-19, but luckily, I still have our horses that I can help with. With school switching to online and racing being cancelled working with the horses is one of the only things left to do. This time has given me a chance to learn more about the other side of the business and I am enjoying it. This knowledge will help me in my career to be more well rounded in the industry. Hands on experience is so important. Jogging the horses is my favourite part because its such an up-close and fun experience, its something that I have to look forward to during this pandemic. We currently have 6 horses in our stable so it’s been keeping us busy, with 3 horses currently in training and the other 3 horses still jogging only. The horse that has caught my attention is our 2yr old Up the Credit filly “Recall Tootsie” and she is very good to jog. She is a bit behind in training because we bought her late, but she is coming along very well. Our stable is very much looking forward to the return of racing in early June.

In conclusion I want to thank everybody who has given me opportunities to help me reach 100 race calls in my teenage years, and thanks to you it’s been such a fun journey so far. Lastly if I could give any advice to other young race callers it would be that you must set goals and work hard to achieve them. You have to work hard to create opportunities to be successful, opportunities don’t just come to you without earning them.

By Nathan Bain



Follow me on Twitter @NBainracing