Racing: Last call round corner for Voice of the Park

Alby Gain takes pride in getting a tight finish in the right order. Photo / Getty Images

EXCLUSIVE: The Voice of the Park is about to fall silent.

Commentating great Alby Gain will retire from race calling next month, bringing to an end a remarkable career which at one stage made him the busiest race caller in Australasia.

Gain, these days the regular caller at Alexandra Park, has made the decision on his own terms and says the reason is simple.

"I want to go out when I am happy I am still doing the job well," he says.

"If it had got to the stage where I was stuffing calls up then I would have turned around and walked out of the [commentating] box straight away.

"But this way I can go out on my own terms and feeling good about my calling."

Gain's last night of calling could come as early as August 13, with Alexandra Park not holding any meetings on the final two Fridays of next month.

His replacement at the home of northern harness racing will be George Simon in what the Herald understands is a New Zealand Racing Board push to have most major race meetings covered by one of their three premier callers.

That could mean Simon covers most of the big meetings of both codes north of Taupo, Tony Lee does all the major Central Districts calling and Mark McNamarra calls the premier meetings for both codes in Canterbury.

Aaron White, who would also have been in line for the Alexandra Park job, is likely to call the Tuesday meetings there and pick up more galloping work as Simon becomes the new Voice of the Park.

While Simon is best known as a galloping commentator, he has a strong harness racing background, with years of experience as an amateur driver so he will be warmly welcomed at Alexandra Park.

But while he is about to become even busier, that will be nothing to compare with Gain's initial launch into fulltime commentating in 1981.

Gain, formerly from Palmerston North, broke into race calling part-time after doing trials as a back up to the great Peter Kelly in the 1970s, and then moving on to equalisator meetings in the mid 1970s.

"Back then Rotorua used to have an Easter meeting that clashed with Ellerslie so I got asked to do the Rotorua one while [Keith Haub] Hauby, who had just taken over from Syd Tonks, did Ellerslie."

More commentating roles came until Radio Pacific, where Gain was employed, took over as the main racing broadcaster in 1981.

"For a while we had two commentators at some meetings and I would be alongside Hauby at Ellerslie," remembers Gain.

"But Radio Pacific covered racing all around the country and that meant I had to go everywhere. One year I commentated at nearly 250 race meetings."

You don't call that many horses without falling in love with some and Gain's equine sweetheart is racing's pin-up girl, Sunline.

"I called her at the trials at Avondale before she even went to the races and she was wonderful," said Gain.

"And of course you have the other greats like Bonecrusher and the harness horses like Lyell Creek.

"It has always been a pleasure to call those great horses."

But just as satisfying for Gain - who says he is over 65 but not counting - is calling a tight finish well.

"I've always taken pride in the occasions when I could get a tight finish, with five or six horses across the track, in the right order because that is a fundamental of the job."

Gain will still continue his regular studio work for Radio Trackside but says once the race calling ends there will be no cameos.

"I will still be around and enjoy doing the radio work and the Racing Board has been good about the whole process. Once I have finished calling I won't be coming back. I'll leave it to the younger guys."