Brendan Delaney is used to calling races across Victoria, whether at thoroughbred trials at Cranbourne or Tatura, or the greyhounds at Warrnambool.
But his lifelong passion for race calling is about to see him head overseas, to call the China Horse Club’s four-race meeting on August 21.
“Looking forward to it, it’s a really exciting opportunity, something different from the day-to-day rigours of calling the races,” Delaney said.
The meeting is part of the China Equine Cultural Festival held on August 20-21.
Delaney will be the first international caller at a race meeting at the Ordos Yiqi Racecourse, which is mainland China’s most modern racecourse, and can seat 27,000 people in the grandstand.
He has been a race caller with RSN 927 for almost nine years, and says he really couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
“It was just something that I found I could do at a young age, a family day for us was a family day at the races so I was always around the races,” he said.
“The radio was always on the races at home and just something drew me to it, I realised I could do it and ran with it.”
WATCH: Hear from Delaney
He will head to China on August 17, ready for the unknown.
“I’m not really sure, I haven’t seen the track really, I had a look at it on Google Maps so that’s the closest I’ve got to it at the moment,” he said.
Horses from New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States will be competing, but Delaney says he’s unable to get a good look at them in the lead-up.
“I’ll just have to go there with an open mind, and it shouldn’t be too much different to what we experience here,” Delaney said.
With racing being in its infancy in China, the race caller says he can’t wait to get a first-hand look how it’s coming along.
“Looking forward to seeing the new facility, it’s a purpose-built facility, for this being the first race meeting, so really looking forward to,” he said.
“They’ve spent a lot of money on it and a lot of money on the facility, a lot of money on the track and people are going there from all over the world so it will be a good networking opportunity and interesting to see how China’s racing is coming along.”
The China Horse Club says it was important to secure a quality race caller who could deliverexcitement and add value to the coverage.
“Brendan does that and his background in the media will be important in delivering a sophisticated entertainment package,” said Eden Harrington, China Horse Club Vice President.
“Hopefully the CECF Ordos is an opportunity for an international audience to enjoy Brendan’s race coverage and hopefully he enjoys what will be a unique experience.”