Michael Wrona
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Michael Wrona (born ) is an
announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience on a broadcast media programme or live event either on radio or television. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaki ...
from
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
specializing in
Quarter Horse The American Quarter Horse, or Quarter Horse, is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name is derived from its ability to outrun other horse breeds in races of or less; some have been clocked at speeds up to . ...
and
Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...
horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...
. He is best known for the phrase "Racing!", which he says at the start of every race call.


Background

Michael Wrona began calling races in Australia at the age of 17. The first track at which he called was Kilcoy, situated about 40 miles from the Queensland capital, Brisbane. and has worked at race tracks in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
since 1990. His move to the USA was prompted by an invitation from iconic Australian track announcer John Tapp. The management at now-defunct Hollywood Park were interested in signing Tapp as their full-time announcer. However, Tapp did not want to leave Australia but knew that the very talented Wrona would be an ideal person for Hollywood Park. Wrona thought it was a prankster joke when Tapp called him on the phone with the Hollywood Park proposal. The opportunity for a budding young racecaller to join Tapp was the stepping stone to Wrona's now long time of living and working in the United States. Wrona has called races at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds since 2009. He was hired as the voice of
Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious race ...
in March 2016, replacing Trevor Denman, and remained there until he was succeeded by Frank Mirahmadi following the 2018 Autumn meet. He has previously called races at
Golden Gate Fields Golden Gate Fields was an American horse racing race track, track straddling both Albany, California and Berkeley, California along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay adjacent to the Eastshore Freeway in the San Francisco Bay Area. With the closi ...
, and has also worked at
Arlington Park Arlington Park (formerly known as Arlington International Racecourse) is a former horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Once called the ''Arlington Park Jockey Club'', it was located adjacent to the Illinois Rou ...
, Fair Grounds, Turf Paradise, Lone Star Park,
Retama Park Retama Park is a class 1 pari-mutuel horse racetrack located in Selma, Texas, United States, that opened in 1995. Live quarter horse races meet July to September. Simulcast racing is shown year-round. The track is owned by the Retama Development ...
, Del Mar, and the old
Hollywood Park Hollywood Park may refer to: Places United States * Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California * Hollywood Park, Chicago, a neighborhood in North Park, Chicago, Illinois *Hollywood Park, Inglewood, an entertainment complex and ma ...
and Bay Meadows race tracks. In 2019, Wrona would begin calling races at
Kentucky Downs Kentucky Downs is a Thoroughbred horse racing track located on the border between Kentucky and Tennessee, in the city of Franklin, Kentucky, just off Interstate 65. It is unique among American tracks in that it is a European-style course—it ...
. He made an appearance in January 2019 at
Keeneland Keeneland Association, Inc. is an equine business based in Lexington, Kentucky. It includes two distinct divisions: the Keeneland Race Course, a Thoroughbred racing facility, and Keeneland Sales, a horse auction complex. It is also known for ...
as an announcer for the January Sale horse
auction An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...
. He is currently calling the races at Grants Pass Downs for the fall meet, plus Los Alamitos for the summer meets in June–July & September.


Historical calls

Michael Wrona has called some historic thoroughbred races during his calling career in the United States. In 1996, Wrona called the Arlington Citation Challenge at Arlington Park (telecast live, nationwide, on CBS), in which
Cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and Fermentation, fermented tobacco leaves made to be Tobacco smoking, smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct comp ...
won his 16th consecutive race. The win tied the previous record of nearly 50 years held by
Citation A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose o ...
. On December 10, 1999, at Hollywood Park, Wrona called the race that saw
Laffit Pincay Jr Laffit Alejandro Pincay Jr. (born December 29, 1946) is a retired Panamanian jockey who is known for once holding the all-time record for wins in horse racing, while still holding third place many years after his retirement. He competed primarily ...
pass
Bill Shoemaker William Lee Shoemaker (August 19, 1931 – October 12, 2003) was an American jockey, considered one of the greatest. For 29 years he held the world record for the most professional jockey victories. Early life Referred to as "Bill", "Willie," ...
for most career victories by a
jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...
. Nearly seven years later, on December 1, 2006, Wrona was the announcer for the race at Bay Meadows in which
Russell Baze Russell Avery Baze (born 7 August 1958 ) is a retired Canadian-American Thoroughbred horse race, horse racing jockey. He holds the record for the most race wins in North American horse racing history, and is a member of the National Museum of Ra ...
passed Pincay for the same honors. On November 11, 2008, as one of five announcers invited to audition for the job at Churchill Downs, Wrona called all seven of
Julien Leparoux Julien R. Leparoux (born July 15, 1983 in Senlis, Oise, France) is a French Eclipse Award winning jockey currently racing in the United States. He has won seven Breeders' Cup races, including the 2015 Breeders' Cup Mile with Champion Turf Mare T ...
's winners. Leparoux became only the second jockey in the 134-year history of Churchill Downs to win seven races in a single day. He tied the record set by
Pat Day Patrick Alan "Pat" Day (born October 13, 1953, in Brush, Colorado) is a retired American jockey. He is a four-time winner of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1991 an ...
set when he won seven of the eight races on June 20, 1984. Wrona remarked during the race just after crossing the line in the fourth consecutive win on the card by Leparoux: "I tell you, he'd win on a broomstick!". On his fifth day of calling the races, Wrona had to step out due to vocal issues leading to John Asher calling the final two races of the day.


Other noteworthy credits

Wrona voiced a race call for the 1992 Seinfeld episode titled "The Subway," in which Kramer overhears a tip while riding a subway train. Wrona called the 2000 Preakness on a national radio network, filling in for Tom Durkin. In 2012, Wrona called South America's biggest race, the Gran Premio Carlos Pellegrini, from the Hipodromo de San Isidro in Buenos Aires, Argentina for the HRTV network. This marked the fourth country in which Wrona had broadcast - apart from his two countries of citizenship, Australia and the United States, he was invited to share the announcing duties when thoroughbred racing returned to historic Agua Caliente in Tijuana, Mexico, in 1991. In 2020, he began calling Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred races at Los Alamitos.


References

American horse racing announcers Living people 1966 births {{Improve categories, date=December 2023