|
|
|
|
Ian Craig Australian Horse Racing Caller
Ian Craig
was the voice of Sydney racing for almost half a century and retired in
2009 after calling 120,000 horse and greyhound races. Renowned
for his unerring accuracy and professionalism, Craig called his last
meeting at Gosford on June 24, 2009 - ironically at the track where
it all began for him in 1966. 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 for a huge radio audience. He 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 client at 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 at the 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.'' He stayed
at 2UE until receiving an offer to join 2KY (now Sky Sports Radio) in
September 1968. He then never left the station. "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.” "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 race callers and I suppose I was fortunate it happened to me early in my career.'' |