The new voice Oaklawn racing fans are hearing is familiar to many.
Jim Byers, regular announcer for Lone Star Park outside Dallas, is replacing Vic Stauffer, whom Oaklawn said Thursday is no longer working at the track. Byers has substituted at Oaklawn other times.
"At least in the short term, Jim is going to assist us until he has another engagement," said General Manager Wayne Smith. Lone Star, where many Oaklawn horsemen also race, opens April 13.
Smith added no details about Stauffer's exit in a story reported by Mary Rampellini of Daily Racing Form. A search for a new announcer would not begin until after May 6, Smith said, adding, "We're going to get through this season and reassess."
Stauffer, a former jockey agent with considerable race-calling experience and also a noted handicapper, succeeded Pete Aiello (now at Gulfstream Park in Florida) in the Oaklawn announcer's booth.
The late Terry Wallace earned acclaim as the voice of Oaklawn for 37 years, later doubling as media relations director. Wallace, who died in 2018, called 20,191 consecutive races until choosing to end his streak on Jan. 28, 2011. The streak began Feb. 7, 1975, when he replaced the late Chic Anderson at Oaklawn. Frank Ashley earlier called races in Hot Springs.
Frank Mirahmadi, Wallace's immediate announcer, left Oaklawn to become announcer at Santa Anita Park in suburban Los Angeles, his hometown.
Oaklawn is racing Thursdays through Sundays in March before reverting to Friday-Sunday format in April.