FROM THE SHERIFF'S DESK: RACE CALLING ... AND THE GREAT RESPECT I HAVE FOR THOSE WHO DO IT WELL

By John Schreck | Wednesday, November 23, 2016

John Schreck, a former Chief Steward in both Sydney and Hong Kong, has seen both the colourful and the dark sides of racing. His wealth of experience and his deep knowledge of racing matters across the board is unquestioned and the reputation he built as a racing ‘lawman’ remains firmly entrenched in racing’s history. Shreck’s personal blog, ‘From the Sheriff’s Desk', appears exclusively on HRO.

In the light of Greg Mile’s retirement announcement I have been asked what I think makes a good race caller and what I think of the job.

I think a good voice is a very important factor. You have to have a clear diction. Accuracy is obviously of prime importance too, particularly these days with multi-angle television coverage, and those aspects, working together in harmony, would be the core attributes of a good race-caller in my opinion.

Clearly Greg Miles falls into that category having learnt the trade with the ABC following people like Joe Brown and Jeff Mahoney who, some say, at his best, had the nicest voice of any radio broadcaster.

I’ve followed race broadcast closely all my life because as a kid all I wanted to do was be race broadcaster.

I used to drift pieces of willow stick down the creek at Warialda and pretend I was a race broadcaster calling those bits of willow as they drifted down the creek.

I called all around Queensland hoping to get a break in broadcasting and I did a tape years ago for Des Hoysted in Sydney. The opportunity was there to do something with them on a part-time basis but I married young and we had a couple of kids so that didn’t work out.

I was either not good enough or not in the right place at the right time ... so I headed into another side of the business, the judicial side.

So, my life could have been very different but fortunately, because of being able to keep horse racing in my life, things turned out pretty good.

*******************************************************************************************************

I have heard many race broadcasters in my time and some have been very interesting people.

Bill Collins was a wonderful, wonderful commentator ... but he was also a very significant gambler. Sometimes that sort of dynamic made for interesting calls from Bill, but he remained extraordinarily good at his job.

No race-caller is immune from making a mistake though and those mistakes can stay with the caller for a long time.

A standout call for me in that regard in fact came from Bill Collins in the ‘Kingston Town can’t win’ race. I think it was in the horse's third Cox Plate ... when Peter Cook rode him.

When they were coming down past the school Bill, who as I said was generally outstanding and could usually pick the winner a long way out in his calls, on that particular day made a dreadful mistake calling, ‘Kingston Town can’t win,’ and, of course, Kingston Town did go on to win!

It would have been easier for him not to make that judgement aloud at the time and it was to his credit in a way that he was prepared to have a go.

Lots of race broadcasters keep those thoughts to themselves in case of the eventuality that played out that day ... but Bill Collins was always prepared to have a go.

It is the tightrope walk that all race callers have to live with, knowing that even the best can get it wrong on occasions.

*********************************************************************************************************

Race broadcasters are often taking for granted and the difficulty of their job is not always acknowledged ... sometimes poor visibility or a clash of colours can further complicate an already difficult job ... but, without question, they do add a lot to the business and there have obviously been some outstanding ones in Australia over the years, and in New Zealand too.

They just seem to be getting better and better around the world really.

The bottom line is I hold the race caller job in high esteem and I have great respect for those who do it well.