Hi People!

Just wanted to introduce myself, my name is Craig Braddick, I am a Track Announcer from the UK and will be The Track Announcer at Arapahoe Park this summer. I also stand in for Mike BAttaglia at Turfway Park and was there this past Sunday and Wednesday.

I am happy to discuss any aspect of announcing ig anyone is interested either on here. My email is britishracecaller@gmail.com and if you aren't bored enough you can visit my website The British Race Caller to hear some of my calls.

Cheers

Craig.

I listened to your race calls, you do an excellent job of it.Turfway should have you calling all the races, I get a knot in my stomach when I hear Battaglia try to call a race.

CRAIG WELCOME to the site and wish you alot of luck in your career...........emmulate TOM DURKIN AND TREVOR DENMAN and all us yanks will love your calls...

Welcome aboard, Craig!

Totally agree with In the fog I live in Cincinnati and heard you at Turfway and believe me
you blow Mike B away!!
Try to get a gig at River Downs if it stays open long enough

i hope your going to give us some good tip , thats what we need, also who do you think are the best five jocks in the us , and do you wager, or just look it as work thanks and welcome

Thank you all for your kind comments.

I really enjoyed filling in for Mike at Turfway and I hope he and the management there will ask me back next time he is out of town. River Downs has Peter Aiello returning as the Announcer this year.

I really try to develop my own style as opposed to trying to emulate Durkin or Denman. Basically try to call it in the way that suits me but throw in some American terms so people know what the heck I am saying!

InTheFog's name is a good description of what some of the weather conditions were close too there on Wednesday!

BTW, if any of you guys have been to Arapahoe Park, tell me what it is like. I am so looking forward to going there.

Cheers

Craig

I have never been to Arapahoe but I believe Sean Beirne is VP out there.
He used to be the Track Announcer here at River Downsand then I believe
at Evangeline. He was good when he was here but nobody could touch
Kevin Goemmer .

Hi Dunco!

I am not a wagerer in the sense I play many horses. I tend to be a person who may only have a bet every other month when I really like something. Just my opinion, but I think to wager seriously it takes as much strategy and commitment of time as say it does starting and running a one man business from scratch.

I tend only to bet in races with more than a dozen runners which obviously limits the chances here in the USA and if I see a race I like, I will go over the PP's for every horse in that race in as much depth as I can before making my choices. Usually take 60% of my stake money on the win bet and 40% on an exotic, either Exacta or Trifecta.

I know my thoughts on wagering above are very different to what many Americans think is a good way to gamble but my Dad was a professional horse gambler in the UK for many years and I think I just inherited a lot of his views.

When doing picks for TV, where I have to give picks for every race, I may spend 10-15 minutes going over each race. I try to pick up on how I think the race will be run, lots of early pace or not, horses that like to come from off the pace, any thing more than 5lbs in weight I take into account as well as stuff like Post Position and trainers and jockeys in form and then make my picks.

I think if any Announcer looks at Announcing as work, it's time they reminded themselves how lucky they are not to be part of the millions doing soemthing they dislike for a living! That said, I always do my best and compared to most Announcers tend to go OTT in the amount of pre race prep work I do!!

Not sure they are the top five jockeys but five of my favorites are: Deshawn Parker, Edgar Paucar, Orlando Mojica, Jamie Theriot and Miguel Mena.

Cheers

Craig.

Hi Floydturbo!

Sean Bierne has moved from Arp, one of the reasons I am gonig there. Did not know he used to work at River Downs, though. I was strongly recommended to appraoch Arp by their former Announcer, Peter Berry, who is now at Mountaineer who felt I would be a good fit there and would be a good place to establish a name for myself as a racecaller. Which along with the odd fill in day at Turfway Park, I hope to do this year.

Cheers

Craig

Great Post , Thanks