I knew at age twelve that I wanted to be a race caller. I spent hours drawing makeshift racetracks on the floor of my parents’ house and hosting marble and Matchbox car “races,” complete with my own play-by-play. Pull back the carpet, and the evidence is still there.
At SUNY Oneonta, I majored in Communications with one goal in mind: to become a race caller. While there, I spent two summers writing for the Saratoga Special. In 2004, I caught Smarty Jones’s Belmont Stakes heartbreak from a hotel room in St. Louis, Missouri, where I was attending Missouri Auction School. I learned how to be an auctioneer but most remember the “bing-bong, bing-bong” vocal technique I still use to this day.
An early college graduation led me straight to Louisiana Downs in Bossier City for my first job. I called races there for eight years before returning northeast to Monmouth Park in New Jersey in 2014. That year turned into a whirlwind: Monmouth, then Aqueduct, then Churchill Downs. I remember exactly where I was when the late John Asher called and said, “Travis, how would you like to call the Kentucky Derby?” Less than six months later, I found myself walking into Churchill Downs on Derby Day for the first time—preparing to call the race that afternoon.
Since then, I’ve called races across the country and abroad, including the 2022 Saudi Cup, and other stops that, thankfully, didn’t involve an overnight detainment in Jordan (true story!). When I’m off the mic, I love tinkering with my computer, dabbling in coding, and staying active by refereeing high school basketball in the winter and golfing in the summer.
Race calling has always been my passion, but it’s also a craft that demands constant sharpening. Over the last few years, I’ve worked harder to refine every detail—my notes, my prep, my voice exercises—with the goal of making every call better than the last. It’s a privilege to bring the action to life, and I’m proud to keep growing in the role I dreamed of way back when my biggest racetrack was drawn in crayon.