Page 5 - Spirit Of Oaklawn 2017

Advertising Supplement Tri-Lakes Edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2017 • 5TT
Oaklawn calling
VIC STAUFFER TAKES OVER THE MICROPHONE FOR 2017
By Cody Graves
SPECIAL SECTIONS WRITER
Horse racing is a sport of drama. From the time the gates open to when the winners cross the finish line, these athletes can go from dead last to first place in a heartbeat.As the excitement builds
into the final turn,Vic Stauffer’s voice comes over the roar of the crowd to push the drama into overdrive.
When a racetrack
the stature of Oaklawn
gives you that opportunity,
I was just thrilled. It was
like a rebirth.”
—Vic Stauffer,
Oaklawn announcer
many famous names in the racing world, including Barbaro, Hal’s Hope, Lava Man and many more, but one of the most famous is National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame inductee Zenyatta. Stauffer said that calling a horse like Zenyatta is different because there are thousands of people watching that race just for her star quality.
Stauffer said he loves Oaklawn and the atmo- sphere it creates in the city. He said Hot Springs reminds him a lot of parks like Del Mar, where the entire town is focused on racing during the season. When he was the announcer at Hollywood Park, he said, he would get recognized maybe once a year. Now he can’t go into a restaurant or a dry cleaners where people aren’t talking about the races.
“When you’re the announcer at Oaklawn, it’s like you’re a rock star,” he said.
Stauffer, a veteran announcer, has been named as Oaklawn Racing & Gaming’s new announcer. Stauffer is only the sixth announcer in the park’s history, and he said it’s a privilege to be calling races at such a historic park.
Before coming to Oaklawn, Stauffer had been the announcer at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, California, for 13 years before the park closed in 2013. After the park closed, Stauffer said, he was unsure he would even return to announcing. He said he considered tracks such as Hollywood Park, Gulfstream Park in Florida and Oaklawn to be the major leagues of horse racing.
“I had wondered if I would ever come back to calling races because you don’t want to play Yankee Stadium and then come back to playing in Toledo,” he said.
Stauffer said he had applied a couple of times to callracesatOaklawnwhenTerryWallaceretiredin 2011, when Frank Mirahmadi took the announcer job at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, in 2015 and when Pete Aiello went to Gulfstream Park last summer. Stauffer said the third time was the charm, and it felt terrific to finally get the job.
“When a racetrack the stature of Oaklawn gives you that opportunity, I was just thrilled,” he said.“It was like a rebirth.”
Stauffer grew up in San Diego and caught the horse-racing bug at an early age. He said he can’t remember specifically what triggered his love of the sport — none of his family was involved in racing — but he somehow knew he had to be a part of the action from the age of 13.
During the summer, Stauffer and his friends would sneak into the Del MarThoroughbred Club in Del Mar, California, to watch races.They would also take a trolley to the Mexican border and a cab to Agua Caliente Racetrack in Tijuana. It was
at those tracks that Stauffer would sit in the back of the stands and practice calling races. In fact, the first race he ever called was at Agua Caliente.
Stauffer said the first race he called was nerve-racking. He said he ran out of air halfway through the race, and his binoculars fogged up be- cause he was so nervous. Once he settled in, how- ever, he said the job became more and more fun. Now Stauffer has called more than 44,000 races. Stauffer got his first announcing job at Garden State Park in New Jersey. He started as the backup announcer, and he pestered the park’s director of publicity until he let Stauffer call a race.
When he’s calling a race, Stauffer said, he keeps in mind that each horse in the race has someone who has placed a bet on the animal’s success. Stauffer works to clearly and concisely report on the horses’ positions and paint a picture of what is going on. He treats his race-calling like a play-by- play report and strives for accuracy because everyone wants to root for his or her horse.
During his career, Stauffer has called races for
CODY GRAVES/TRI-LAKES EDITION
Vic Stauffer is only the sixth announcer in Oaklawn’s history. Stauffer said he is excited to be working in a place with some of the best horse racing in the United States.