It has been more than three years since Vic Stauffer has called a horse race.
Friday's opening day at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs will end a 1,118-day drought for Stauffer. He'll call nine races on his first day as Oaklawn's track announcer.
Stauffer told the crowd at the 10th annual Oaklawn Kickoff Banquet at the Wyndham Riverfront Hotel in North Little Rock on Wednesday that his heart was broken when his last track at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif., closed, but he's glad to be back at a horse track.
"I'll be in my comfort zone in my booth calling races," said Stauffer, who called the final race at Hollywood Park on Dec. 22, 2013.
Stauffer, 57, is the sixth track announcer at Oaklawn since its opening in 1904. He is the third announcer since Terry Wallace retired after the 2011 season, along with Frank Mirahmadi (2012-2015) and Pete Aiello last season.
"I'm just borrowing the booth at Oaklawn," Stauffer said. "That booth will always be Terry's. If I can have a tenth of a response that Terry had, then I'll be very lucky."
Stauffer has called more than 44,000 races in a career that began in 1985 at Garden State Park in New Jersey. He called races for 13 seasons at Hollywood Park and also has worked at Gulfstream Park and Hialeah Park in Florida and Golden Gate Fields in California.
He has called more than 300 Grade I races, which have featured notable horses such as Barbaro, Hal's Hope, Game On Dude, Lava Man, Shared Belief, Pioneerof the Nile, Lookin at Lucky, Azeri, Blind Luck, The Tin Man and California Chrome. He's called two-time Apple Blossom Handicap winner and Horse of the Year Zenyatta to victory eight times.
Jon Court, a longtime Oaklawn jockey, said Stauffer is very fluent when he's calling a race. Court said when the race narrows to the stretch, Stauffer will generate a lot of excitement for fans and jockeys.
"Vic is very professional," Court said. "He has enough skill and talent in this industry to wear other hats. He's going to bring a lot of excitement and insight. He'll open up some opportunities for people to be educated about this industry.
"I've always enjoyed his work. I like to listen to his calls. It's going to be an exciting meet."
Oaklawn hired Stauffer in August after Aiello became the year-round announcer at Gulfstream.
"It's the absolute pinnacle of the major leagues of horse racing at this time of year," Stauffer said of Oaklawn. "When you do what I do for a living, you care about calling the absolute best horses in the very best races. When I was at Hollywood and Gulfstream, I was lucky to call the best in the world.
"When you think about the horses at Oaklawn Park, you're talking about the best horses on planet Earth. Look at [Triple Crown winner] American Pharoah. The only racetrack he ran twice at was at Oaklawn.
"What attracted me to Oaklawn was being able to get back and play center field at Yankee Stadium."
Stauffer describes himself as an announcer that is passionate but not overdramatic. He said he respects every fan at the track, regardless of who they bet on.
"At the end of the day, let's not lose sight of the fact that somebody has bet on every horse in every race. I believe when you plunk your $2 down there, you want to know where your horse is and does he have a chance to win," Stauffer said. "What you'll hear from me, hopefully, is a clear, concise description of what's going on in the race, so they'll know if they have a reason to stand up and start rooting for their horse when they turn for home. I believe that's extremely important.
"Whether a horse is an odds-on favorite or a 50-1 shot, you're talking about somebody at that racetrack that wants to know where that racehorse is and does he have a chance."
Live racing glance
OPENING DAY Friday, gates open 11 a.m.; first race 12:35 p.m. CLOSING DATE April 15 ADMISSION Free FRIDAY’S FEATURE 4-year-olds and up will run in the $125,000 Fifth Season Stakes. RACING SCHEDULE 57 days starting Friday; Live racing Thursday-Sunday beginning Jan. 19; Wednesday racing April 12; Racing also Monday and Feb. 20 POST TIMES 1:30 p.m. weekdays and Sundays. 1 p.m. Saturdays. Special times: 12:30 p.m. Friday and April 15; 1 p.m. Monday and Feb. 20. UPCOMING PROMOTIONS 50-cent corned beef sandwiches and 10-cent sodas Saturday; Oaklawn cap giveaway day Monday; $55,000 progressive cash giveaway , Feb. 20; Boat and truck giveaway April 1. ROAD TO THE DERBY $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes (Monday); $500,000 Southwest Stakes (Feb. 20); $900,000 Rebel Stakes (March 18); $1 million Arkansas Derby (April 15)
Sports on 01/12/2017