New announcer eager for Oaklawn meet

Vic Stauffer, Oaklawn Park's announcer, addresses Hot Springs National Park Rotary Club in January 2017 at the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa. - File photo by The Sentinel-Record
Vic Stauffer, Oaklawn Park's announcer, addresses Hot Springs National Park Rotary Club in January 2017 at the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa. - File photo by The Sentinel-Record

Vic Stauffer comes to Oaklawn Park as track announcer but having worn many hats in and out of horse racing.

Besides calling more than 40,000 races at nearly a dozen tracks, Stauffer worked as a steward for the California Horse Racing Board from late 2011 to April 2015 while still announcing. Since launching his career in 1985 at Garden State Park in New Jersey, Stauffer has made stops at Gulfstream Park and Hialeah Park in Florida and received two Eclipse Awards for radio broadcasts.

"I've also killed a few racetracks," he said in a lighthearted moment while addressing the Hot Springs National Park Rotary Club Wednesday at the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa.

Among them is Hollywood Park, the summer and fall hub of Los Angeles racing from 1938 until shuttered in 2013.

When Stauffer tees it up, so to speak, Jan. 13 at Oaklawn, he will be back in an announcer's booth for the first time since late 2013 at Hollywood, now being converted into the future home of the NFL's Los Angeles Rams.

Eager to please in his new post, Stauffer said, "I hope you people will be extremely patient with me this year."

Not to worry, said Rotary Club President Gary Troutman, himself a racing fan, who told Stauffer, "You have no idea how much of a celebrity you'll become by mid-April."

By the time he calls his first Arkansas Derby, Stauffer may set a track record for versatility.

Don't be surprised if he pops up at a local baseball game in an umpiring capacity. After all, he is a 10-percent owner of the Pittsburg (Calif.) Diamonds independent professional baseball team -- in exchange, he said for "pro bono" announcing services.

He's also a skilled handicapper, as evidenced by his November 2016 victory in the Del Mar Handicapping Challenge in Southern California. Stauffer turned his $2,500 starting bankroll into $23,375, receiving automatic entry to the $1 million Breeders' Cup Challenge this fall at Del Mar, which holds the world-championship races for the first time.

"First and foremost I'm a racing fan," Stauffer said when named last year to replace Pete Aiello (now at Gulfstream Park) as Oaklawn's announcer.

"The Oaklawn ... program is one of a kind in American racing," he said then. "I look forward to experiencing the huge crowds that are passionate about seeing the best race horses in the world. And I'll be just as excited as everyone else to witness the next great champions that are cultivated at Oaklawn. This is just the perfect scenario for me both personally and professionally."

Introducing Terry Wallace from the podium, Stauffer thanked the former Oaklawn announcer of 37 years for his assistance in landing a job he had sought twice previously.

Two of his favorite racecalls, Stauffer said, were those of Wallace bringing home Zenyatta in the 2008 and 2010 runnings of Oaklawn's Apple Blossom Handicap, the supermare's first two of three races outside California. Stauffer called "Big Mama" to victory in eight of her 19 consecutive victories before the single loss of her career in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

"The way you call a great race is to have great horses," said Stauffer, "like a Zenyatta or an American Pharoah," referencing two of the four Horse-of-the-Year recipients to race at Oaklawn in the last decade (Curlin and Rachel Alexandra are the others).

Stauffer moved to Hot Springs, soon to be joined by his wife, after the couple took in nine Broadway shows in five days. By that standard, especially in recent years, Oaklawn has become the "Hamilton" of racetracks.

David Longinotti, Oaklawn's director of racing, said upon hiring Stauffer, "Vic was the unanimous choice of the search committee. His passion, his accuracy and his clarity make him a rare talent. He is able to describe what is happening on the racetrack in a way that is immediately understandable while still being unique."

Local on 01/05/2017

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