Best Racecaller in New Zealand

[hands down 27]

1 minute ago, Shad said:

Were those the days of eric percy or was he at Blenheim only

yes eric worked for radio marlborough , sold insurence, tried to call the trots, i no him, just a fantastic bloke, he even called the rugby when we had the shield, my brother was in the marlborough team at the time, eric done everything, and all for a good cause

[hands down 27]

4 minutes ago, Shad said:

Were those the days of eric percy or was he at Blenheim only

pretty sure jack odonnell was calling those races, nelson had gallops on the grass in that time, eric was just doing the trials at that time

[Shad 1,558]

Just now, hands down said:

yes eric worked for radio marlborough , sold insurence, tried to call the trots, i no him, just a fantastic bloke, he even called the rugby when we had the shield, my brother was in the marlborough team at the time, eric done everything, and all for a good cause

He was an ok commentator, but seemed to be around or a long time, and made a few blues towards the end of his career, is he still around.

[hands down 27]

not sure, id say he still in blenheim,thats if hes alive, i thought he was old when i was young, yes too many blues,just didnt cut it as a race broadcaster, ian chambers came along and the rest is history, eric had a go when jack odonnel retired, he retired far too young, not sure why,but he left a big hole in the marl, nelson area

[Shad 1,558]

Jack did do the gallop at nelson, those were the days we were huddled around  the old valve radio trying to find the local station that broadcast the races, the fading in and out of the frequency, oh the frustration, especially if you had a interest in a horse, those old radios just the best back then for finding stations, memories eh, as edna from all in the family sung, those were the days.Gee i must be old.

[hands down 27]

1 minute ago, Shad said:

Jack did do the gallop at nelson, those were the days we were huddled around  the old valve radio trying to find the local station that broadcast the races, the fading in and out of the frequency, oh the frustration, especially if you had a interest in a horse, those old radios just the best back then for finding stations, memories eh, as edna from all in the family sung, those were the days.Gee i must be old.

and to add to that, i had a treble one day , i was very young , so i loved trebles , as you can see from my earlier one, well, i had three 10$ legs in, last race was 4,30 say, the treble paid $800 plus , alot of cash, and there was an enquiry into the winner,(mine) 6,30 got a resulf from radio nz on the hour, guess what , my winner( taggarts) got rubbed out, had a head ach for rest of the night

[Shad 1,558]

1 minute ago, hands down said:

and to add to that, i had a treble one day , i was very young , so i loved trebles , as you can see from my earlier one, well, i had three 10$ legs in, last race was 4,30 say, the treble paid $800 plus , alot of cash, and there was an enquiry into the winner,(mine) 6,30 got a resulf from radio nz on the hour, guess what , my winner( taggarts) got rubbed out, had a head ach for rest of the night

Tough call, and we have all been there, been some good trainers from up that way over the years remember shorty healy had a nice horse called the yapper, think he got placed in a cup, or close to it. Goodie two shoes another one from up that way, virtually none now.

[Double R 260]

I will throw another couple of Commentators in, Bob Lovett, up north and Paul Davies down South. Paul filled at Forbury Park a few times in the 1980's??

[hands down 27]

thanks for the chat guys, good nite, catch you alll tomorrow, thanks shad , murrey hamilton from the south came up had a go too in blenheim, a real nice guy,had a lot of fun in blenheim in those days, and now my good mate mike obrien is in the can at rolleston, you a champion mate, thanks again

[hedley 1,900]

29 minutes ago, Shad said:

Jack did do the gallop at nelson, those were the days we were huddled around  the old valve radio trying to find the local station that broadcast the races, the fading in and out of the frequency, oh the frustration, especially if you had a interest in a horse, those old radios just the best back then for finding stations, memories eh, as edna from all in the family sung, those were the days.Gee i must be old.

 

[Shad 1,558]

17 minutes ago, hands down said:

thanks for the chat guys, good nite, catch you alll tomorrow, thanks shad , murrey hamilton from the south came up had a go too in blenheim, a real nice guy,had a lot of fun in blenheim in those days, and now my good mate mike obrien is in the can at rolleston, you a champion mate, thanks again

Cheers hands great to talk about old times.

[gubellini 4,003]

In the old Radio Pacific days Murray Burns trotting and Chris Mc Quaid gallops both did a good job. Earlier Doug Ahern and Alan Bright pretty accurate callers as well.

[Shad 1,558]

1 minute ago, hedley said:

 

Thats classic hedly, you made my day, oh what a voice

[hands down 27]

23 minutes ago, gubellini said:

In the old Radio Pacific days Murray Burns trotting and Chris Mc Quaid gallops both did a good job. Earlier Doug Ahern and Alan Bright pretty accurate callers as well.

god they were the days , doug ahern was the caller i got my5k treble at stratford, la mer and so on, chris mcquaid did the trots around  northland , down here we had the big guy from png , i actually seen him at the mot two weeks ago , cant remember his name, not too bad either , murry burns , well its early days at pacific , alby gain called races on the phone at top of straight at greymouth one day , pacific was a real coo at the time,

[gubellini 4,003]

2 minutes ago, hands down said:

god they were the days , doug ahern was the caller i got my5k treble at stratford, la mer and so on, chris mcquaid did the trots around  northland , down here we had the big guy from png , i actually seen him at the mot two weeks ago , cant remember his name, not too bad either , murry burns , well its early days at pacific , alby gain called races on the phone at top of straight at greymouth one day , pacific was a real coo at the time,

Paul Davies the big guy from Pyne Gould Guinness. Lachie Marshall very enthusiastic caller in the same area.

[hands down 27]

53 minutes ago, Double R said:

I will throw another couple of Commentators in, Bob Lovett, up north and Paul Davies down South. Paul filled at Forbury Park a few times in the 1980's??

paul davies, couldnt think of his name, worked for pines g g, did a dam good job too, can still remember bob lovett, he used to really raise his voice,bit like craig rail in victoria

[hands down 27]

1 minute ago, gubellini said:

Paul Davies the big guy from Pyne Gould Guinness. Lachie Marshall very enthusiastic caller in the same area.

lochie is still around , does the country western singing club, and of course trains a few horses, the old mcpherson runners, he was good listening too, him and gorden mathison down here, they were both hard case, mainly all the grass tracks calling in those days, entetairning to be fair, lucky on the radio, because i dont think they were very actuarte, lochie would call them a winner by a nose, when it was a good neck, make himself look, sound good

[hands down 27]

lochie certainly had a very distinguished voice,, so did gordon mathison , both were a tag team down here, as a young guy also , i appreiated the entertainment off the radio. 50 cent doubles, at some time, also on course you could change your second leg horses into something you either liked more, or got a tip from someone, having said that, changing your horeses can be a curse.

There were other race callers down here also, Bill Cherry was one who comes to mind, now he was a very unusual caller , and another very good one was a guy called Rob Fielder , now he called around dunedin filled in for Reon , plus i no he was a judge up this way until recently, he was very good, one of his favourite sayings was,,, now heads are turned for home, and such and such is well clear, that was johnnys tapps saying , and of course they here headed straight away, bugger.

Getting back to those old ways of tab tickets , think on course at sometime they were like an old bookmakers ticket, cardboard written with chalk, some even had a go of changing them, adding a number to them, my lips are sealed.   David Clarkson was an unbelievable caller , he was something very special ,his calls were like this , now johnny globe , he leads the field with 6 to go, false step a half length back as they round the bend , now lordship , he brested up,, you get my drift, you could listen to him all day,, then came reon, mums and dads loved him, they still miss reon, he was also special, it was just their voice, go to the races to to listen to them  , get to addington , cause everyone in christchurch went to the trots , here you would hear another amazing voice on the pa system, to this day i have no clues to who she was, for years and years, this lady did the pa , she announced all the horses. god i could go on and on,, think i have already, someone on here will remember all those times also, great racing days.

[hands down 27]

2 minutes ago, hands down said:

lochie certainly had a very distinguished voice,, so did gordon mathison , both were a tag team down here, as a young guy also , i appreiated the entertainment off the radio. 50 cent doubles, at some time, also on course you could change your second leg horses into something you either liked more, or got a tip from someone, having said that, changing your horeses can be a curse.

There were other race callers down here also, Bill Cherry was one who comes to mind, now he was a very unusual caller , and another very good one was a guy called Rob Fielder , now he called around dunedin filled in for Reon , plus i no he was a judge up this way until recently, he was very good, one of his favourite sayings was,,, now heads are turned for home, and such and such is well clear, that was johnnys tapps saying , and of course they here headed straight away, bugger.

Getting back to those old ways of tab tickets , think on course at sometime they were like an old bookmakers ticket, cardboard written with chalk, some even had a go of changing them, adding a number to them, my lips are sealed.   David Clarkson was an unbelievable caller , he was something very special ,his calls were like this , now johnny globe , he leads the field with 6 to go, false step a half length back as they round the bend , now lordship , he brested up,, you get my drift, you could listen to him all day,, then came reon, mums and dads loved him, they still miss reon, he was also special, it was just their voice, go to the races to to listen to them  , get to addington , cause everyone in christchurch went to the trots , here you would hear another amazing voice on the pa system, to this day i have no clues to who she was, for years and years, this lady did the pa , she announced all the horses. god i could go on and on,, think i have already, someone on here will remember all those times also, great racing days.

One more ive missed , but Kevin Payne came a little later , he was Dave Mcdonalds partner in crime, not literally ,keven was also very good caller , they worked very well, and keven didnt mind giving his tips, most times very auctrate ,i was mad when he finished , thought he got the raw end of what ever, for what ever, the rest is history, now we have all these new broadcasters , a new generation i suppose,, but one thing is for certainty , they wont be like the old times, my thoughts anyway, 

[hands down 27]

4 minutes ago, Flagship uberalles said:

Good memories..... I used to enjoy the commentators nights at Addington in the early 80's as well, Keith haub would always call the commentators race as he would not get on a sulky for anything! Great entertainment. We were really spoilt for choice with the great race callers we used to have.

 

4 minutes ago, Flagship uberalles said:

Good memories..... I used to enjoy the commentators nights at Addington in the early 80's as well, Keith haub would always call the commentators race as he would not get on a sulky for anything! Great entertainment. We were really spoilt for choice with the great race callers we used to have.

too right ,it was alot of fun alright , met alot of good people who frequent addington,most nights there would be up to or more than 5000 punters, and then they got the night club later.

[hands down 27]

12 hours ago, Blue said:

I know it ages me but for clarity, diction, pronunciation and accuracy it's still Syd Tonks for me. Mark Mac is the only one that comes anywhere near overall. I guess technology (radio waves) has improved over the years but many sounded monotone and nasal which didn't thrill me at all.

Cant fault mar mac alright , he is a real tallent , doesnt mind a joke or two doing a call either , get the feeling he could easy let loose with some sharp ones if he could, got that cheeky stuff behind the microphone going on i feel mate, syd tonks , well he was good to, but like the recent ones up there , they forget the inside ones , now we have tv we can see them, but some callers are calling horses out wide in front, when they clearly are not,then got the cheek to say he fort back, in front all the time,, and syds fav saying was , down towards the post they come, still have two furlongs to go, then he would have to say it again, can laught now, but if your horse in front, the winning post couldnt come soon enough.

[hands down 27]

26 minutes ago, hands down said:

 

too right ,it was alot of fun alright , met alot of good people who frequent addington,most nights there would be up to or more than 5000 punters, and then they got the night club later.

not sure what happened to Keith Haub in the end ,one day he was calling both aucklands tracks, then he wasnt, then george Simons returned , alot of controversy on whos who, and whos calling what, then Simons seemed to be calling everything, trots included , same thing happened to Tom Woods, thought he was doing pretty well , reon was his mentor ,( who better) ,tom was everywhere down here , hard working young man, not bad calling either , would of got better with age , but on premier days in the cd there was no sign of mr woods, simons was doing the calling,, then one more thing, how could i forget , Tony Lee came down and done the big trotting meet at ashburton , and guess what , the next year simons was in ashburton , tony was at his very best in those days also, tony was a great caller at the trots, he started at hutt park after alan bright , then all the cd, thought tony was the real deal, probable still is , just all the changes and restrictions on him now, seems to be on probation when he gets behind the microphone, somethings not the same.

[Portfolio 728]

Reg Clapp,  with his, Racing This Time!!

Did pretty well considering he was over the limit most nights!

[hands down 27]

5 minutes ago, Portfolio said:

Reg Clapp,  with his, Racing This Time!!

Did pretty well considering he was over the limit most nights!

thats hard case , sure peter early is sometimes also, peter is great for nz racing , should be more like him, be sad if they got rid of peter