Tioga Downs will begin the 2017
racing season in less than a week, and when it does it will be with a new
announcer. Taking over the mic this year will be John Horne, Jr. John has been
an employee at Tioga for the past 3 years, working as an assistant to the
Judges as well as filling in as the track’s back-up announcer. John has also
filled in at several other tracks around the state as well as our sister track
Vernon Downs.
John, who originally hailed from
Middletown, NY, now lives with his wife Richi and son JT in Worcester, NY. John
comes to us from the Baseball Hall of Fame where he still currently works as
the Coordinator of Rights & Reproductions, a position he’s held for the
last 21 years.
“We’ve watched John grow as an announcer
these past few years. He’s called all sorts of other sports, predominantly
baseball, but his love for the sport of harness racing has fueled his desire to
become a track announcer,” said Jason Bluhm, Director of Racing at Tioga. “I
can remember when he interviewed for the Judge’s assistant position a few years
ago, one that only offers few hours and not much of a chance at making any
serious money. I remember looking at his application and seeing he lived over
and hour and a half away and thought to myself there’s no way this guy will
want to drive here every day for these few hours. When I asked him about it,
John replied that he loved the sport and his ultimate goal was to become an
announcer and here we are today watching him realize that dream”.
Horne
replaces former Tioga Downs race caller James Witherite. Witherite was
the announcer for 3 years. “He (Witherite) will be a hard act to follow,”
said Horne. “He has been my mentor since day one. I wouldn’t
be here without him,” added Horne. Horne will call his first race of the
season on May 6th at 5:00pm.
