News

Voice of racing Ian Craig calls it a day

10th Jun 2009

The Daily Telegraph - Ray Thomas - Thursday, 11 June 2009

HE'S been the voice of Sydney racing for almost half a century, his excitable tone known throughout the land by punters and non-punters alike.

But after 120,000 horse and greyhound races, the extraordinary career of broadcaster Ian Craig is nearing an end. Renowned for his unerring accuracy and professionalism, Craig will do his last call at Gosford on June 24 - the track where it all began for him in 1966.

"I had been calling harness and greyhound racing for a few years before, but the first gallop meeting I called was in 1966 for 2UE temporary boxes past the post at Gosford,'' Craig recalled.

"I've always liked Gosford and I guess the Takeover Target Stakes meeting is a nice way to hang up the microphone.''

Craig, 67, is the last of a golden era of racecallers - the days before live racing telecasts when radio ruled the sport. This was an era when the voices of famous callers like Ken Howard, Bert Bryant, Bill Collins, Des Hoysted, John Tapp and Geoff Mahoney painted vivid race descriptions fora huge radio audience.

Craig conceded the art of race broadcasting had changed over the years with the advent of live racing on television. "I just wonder with television coverage getting bigger and bigger whether callers at gallops meetings will need to start calling off the monitor, otherwise they won't be in synch with the viewer,'' he said. "But there will definitely always be racing radio because of the immediacy of the medium.''

The start

A CHILDHOOD illness indirectly led to Craig making racecalling his career of choice. "I think my appetite was whetted when I was unfortunate enough to be afflicted by rheumatic fever when I was only six,'' he recalled. "Because my dad was interested in racing and owned trotters, he used to listen to the races on a Saturday afternoon. I thought it was fantastic what these blokes (callers) did. After that, I only ever wanted to do two things: be a jockey, and I was never going to be small enough to do that, or the next best thing was to be a racing commentator.''

The first call

CRAIG began his working life in the family clothing company but used to go down to the old Granville trotting track and practice calling to himself at gymkhanas. It was November 1961 when he got his big break. "The late, great Ray Conroy was the caller in those days and he was also a clientat our shop at Parramatta which is where I got to know him,'' Craig said. "He knew I was interested in calling and must have taken pity on me one day because he asked if I'd like to call a race that day atthe gymkhana. I was nervous but I jumped at the chance. I got through the call OK. I'll never forget it - the winner was Sydney Song driven by none other than JC Caffyn.''

The radio gig

CRAIG began to find steady part-time work calling gymkhanas, Richmond dogs and trots, and Bankstown trots. He was then offered the position of No.2 caller behind Hoysted at 2UE in 1965, beginning his long career in radio. He stayed at 2UE until receiving an offer to join 2KY (now Sky Sports Radio) in September 1968. He has never left the station. "To still be at the microphone for 2KY over an unbroken 44 years ... to be quite humble about it, I now hold the record as longest serving full-time racing commentator,'' Craig said. "I've always enjoyed working at 2KY and meeting so many wonderful people. I remember the days when I was on Punters Post-Mortem on Channel 7 on a Sunday morning with the likes of Max Presnell and Frank Kennedy back in the late '60s, early '70s. To think, here we are all these years later, working at 2KY and Frank's son Terry is on the Big Sports Breakfast.''

The memories

ASKING Craig to recall the best horses and jockeys he had seen and the great moments of his racecalling career was like taking a walk down memory lane. He's seen all the great gallopers from Kingston Town to Makybe Diva, the best jockeys from Ron Quinton and Mick Dittman to today's stars, Darren Beadman and Corey Brown, and admired trainers like Tommy Smith, Bart Cummings and Gai Waterhouse. Awarded an Order of Australia Medal in 1991 for his services to the racing industry, Craig said his fondest race calls were those featuring the legendary Kingston Town. "My heart is probably ruling my head here, but I'd have to say Kingston Town is the best horse I've called,'' Craig said. "I always rated Mick Dittman the best jockey I've seen until the last couple of years. I believe Darren Beadman, since he's been back after his sabbatical, has just kept getting better and better and I have to put him on top now. As for trainers, I've always had a soft spot for TJ (Smith). I also take my hat off to Gai Waterhouse because she had to battle for so long to get her licence and what she has achieved since then as a trainer ... she is remarkable.''

The punt

CRAIG says he doesn't punt - having learned his lesson the hard way many years ago. "I haven't had a bet since just after I started calling,'' he said. "I soon realised that if I had a bet in a race and my horse would drop out of contention, I knew I'd blown my money and I found it hard to concentrate. In this business, concentration is 99 per cent of the job. Hence I didn't think it was a good philosophy to be a caller and punter. But other callers have a punt. There were and are some callers who I defy anyone to know if they had a bet in the race, but there are others who you know what they have backed.''

The biggest blue

TROTTING gave Craig the most embarrassing moment of his broadcast career. It was a Harold Park race in 1966 when Craig mixed up Smokey Blaze and Silver Exchange during his call. "I had them confused in my call and one of those horses won the race, the other came sixth and I had them the wrong way around,'' Craig admitted. "I don't think I slept for three days after that. It's a moment that happens to all racecallers and I suppose I was fortunate it happened to me early in my career.''

Why now

MOST punters would agree Craig is calling as well as ever, so the obvious question is, Why retire now?. "Seeing that it is nearly 48 years in broadcasting, 44 of those full-time, I think the time has come,'' he admitted. "Racecallers can basically sense when they feel the time is near. In my case, I got up one morning about 18 months ago and for no particular reason I thought, Yeah, another 18 months will just about do me. So I kept going to round off 35 Golden Slippers and 35 Sydney Cups, so it is a nice time to bow out. Looking back over 48 years, I just shake my head and think how lucky I have been to do something I love for all these years. You know, if I had my time over, I would do it all again.''