Great race calls in Australian horse racing

Great race calls play a pivotal role in creating and enhancing the theatre of horse racing. They bring the races to life and make them live on through the ages.

Racecalling is a rare skill. To be able to convey to the audience the sheer emotion of horse race while paying attention with adequate detail to the information that the punters require.

I believe Australian race callers are among the best in the world.

Australian race callers appreciate the theatrics and drama of horse racing and deliver performances that transcend the mere description of a race.

Many of us owe our passion for horse racing to names like Bill Collins, Johnny Tapp and Greg Miles who invented phrases that perfectly captured the epic moments.

Our village community have come up with a list of truly great race calls.

To make this fun, I’ve removed the names of the horses involved. See if you can guess which horse is featured in each race call. You should get most, if not all, if you are a true racing fan.

Memorable snippets from the greatest race calls

“A champion becomes a legend” – 2005 Melbourne Cup

“__________ can’t win” – 1982 Cox Plate

“__________, races into equine immortality” – 1986 Cox Plate

“The champion’s in desperate trouble” – 2004 Australian Cup

“Boy, he’d have to be good to win from there” – 2019 Randwick Guineas

“__________ digs, he lunges and wins!” – 1999 Caulfield Guineas

“__________ dives… _________ a nose to ________, I think” – 2008 Melbourne Cup

“It’s history at Flemington” – 2015 Melbourne Cup

“This is ‘The Bool’, go hard or go home” – 2014 Grand Annual Warrnambool

“She might be the greatest in the world” – 2000 Cox Plate

“Can he do it? __________. He’s flying. Yes! There’s history” – 2017 TJ Smith

“He’s a super colt alright. He’s making an absolute mess of them” – 1977 Golden Slipper

“__________’s won by a minute and that’s the way he might win the Melbourne Cup” – 1979 Cox Plate

“300 to go. They’re not gonna get this superstar” – 1988 Australian Cup

“__________ is away and gone round the home turn” – 2015 Cox Plate

“This is a blitz. It’s a __________ blitz” – 2016 Cox Plate

“The great mare completes the great trilogy of the turf” – 2017 Cox Plate

“Cometh the hour. Cometh the legend” – 2018 Cox Plate

How did you go?

How many did you get? I’m sure with your horse racing knowledge, you would have had no problems at all. Congratulations! You are now a fully-qualified racing historian.

Category: Special interest