Racecaller John Imbriale expected to begin his full-time gig for the New York Racing Association in April at Belmont Park, but the global coronavirus pandemic delayed live racing. As racing prepares to run at Belmont this afternoon, Imbriale told the New York Post he’s both excited and nervous to be filling the shoes of so many top-notch announcers that came before him.
“There’s so much anticipation and then the delay, now the anticipation again — now you want the day to get here,” Imbriale told the Post. “We certainly keep in mind every day what everybody has gone through to get to this point and finally be able to open up again, and we appreciate that. But I think everybody is just really kind of looking forward to watching those gates open again at Belmont on Wednesday.”
While the career debut of 2-year-old colt Fauci in Wednesday’s third race will likely draw some interest outside regular racing fans, Imbriale plans to keep the COVID-19 commentary to a minimum.
“They don’t want all the extra stuff,” he said of race fans. “They want to hear about their horse and find out if they won or lost.”
Read more at the New York Post.
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