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Lies returns to Del Mar as ITW commentator

John Lies, who began his horse racing industry career at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club as a press box steward in 1998, returned to Del Mar as the ITW (Inter-Track Wagering) paddock commentator for the 2007 meet.

The 1994 Fallbrook High School graduate also appeared in front of the grandstands for the daily “Sing with Bing,” the “Who Do You Like” contest, and the “Hippety-Hop Derby” affiliated with the Camp Del Mar program for children.

“It’s great. It’s a great position to have. I kind of feel like my role is to give as much helpful information as possible,” Lies said.

ITW sends its signal to television sets at various parts of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club facility as well as to off-track wagering sites. Lies tries to avoid re-hashing past performances and other information found in programs and the Daily Racing Form.

“I find it’s probably most helpful if you can give additional information,” he said. “I just try to throw as much information at them as possible.”

When he was at Fallbrook High School Lies participated on the “Morning News” closed-circuit television broadcasts at the school, although he did not provide sports news. He also sang and played piano at Fallbrook High School. He was a communications major at Westmont College and sang the national anthem prior to Westmont’s basketball games.

Lies graduated from Westmont in 1998 and spent that summer as the press box steward during the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club meet. He followed that with a media and publicity position at Santa Anita Park, where he wrote the stable notes. Lies, the son of former San Luis Rey Downs Thoroughbred Training Center trainer Richard Lies, also worked as an assistant trainer for John Sadler and Vladimir Cerin, which gave him first-hand experience in the stables but also convinced him that his future was with an announcing position.

His various past positions made him well-rounded for his ITW job. “It all helps to get different perspectives or different angles,” he said.

Lies later provided stretch calls and results for radio stations KNX and The Mighty 1090, and he appeared on morning talk shows in California and Las Vegas. In 2004 he co-hosted a Kentucky Derby Day radio show with Vic Stauffer, who is also the regular announcer at the Santa Rosa fair meet, and during the 2004 fair meet Lies called 15 races to gain his initial experience. Lies also worked as a replacement caller at Ellis Park in Kentucky for a weekend, adding 30 additional races to his 2004 total and giving him 45 races for a demo tape.

Lies’ experience in Kentucky was the result of regular Ellis Park caller Luke Kruytbosch traveling to Del Mar for that year’s Pacific Classic weekend. While that gave Lies three race dates of announcing experience, he also missed Del Mar’s Pacific Classic that year.

Lies was able to serve as a commentator for this year’s stakes race. “It was exciting because I’ve been here for most of them,” he said.

“It was exciting to be able to give the information,” said Lies, who remembers watching Best Pal in the initial Pacific Classic which occurred in 1991. “I got a very good view of it, so that was exciting.”

After the 2004 season Lies sent the demo tape to Darren Rogers, the director of communications at Lone Star Park, and asked Rogers for feedback. When Lone Star Park was unable to reach contract terms with its previous announcer, Lies was asked to send additional tapes for evaluation. He was interviewed in February 2005 and hired in March 2005 to announce at Lone Star Park for the thoroughbred meet at the Grand Prairie, Texas, track. Magna Entertainment Corporation owns both Lone Star Park and Remington Park in Oklahoma City, and in 2005 Lies also called the Remington Park meet.

Lies was offered the opportunity to return to Lone Star Park for the 2006 season, and instead of splitting between Lone Star Park and Remington Park he also called the Fall quarter horse racing meet at Lone Star Park. During the interim period in 2006 Lies wrote for the Saratoga Special which covers the Saratoga meet in Upstate New York.

“That was a great experience. I feel very lucky that I was able to have that one year there,” Lies said.

One of the jockeys Lies met during his year at Saratoga was Richard Migliore, who opted for the Southern California circuit in 2007 and rode Student Council to victory in Del Mar’s showcase race. “That was neat to see him win the Pacific Classic,” Lies said.

Although Lies enjoyed his year with the Saratoga Special, an opportunity at Del Mar would take priority. Mike Willman, the publicity director at Santa Anita Park, made arrangements to put Lies in touch with ITW. “They called me up and asked if I was available,” Lies said. “They kept me in mind and gave me a call, and I’m glad it was able to work out.”

Lone Star Park does not race on Wednesdays or Mondays, so even though the Lone Star Park and Del Mar schedules overlapped Lies only missed eight days of Del Mar’s 43-day meet and was present for this year’s Opening Day at Del Mar. The final races of the Lone Star meet were run July 29.

“It was just very refreshing to come back here,” Lies said.

Del Mar is not only the first track Lies considered home but also lacks the thunderstorms Texas has. “Having a chance to come back here where the weather’s so pleasant was immensely appreciated by me,” he said.

Lies sat in a second-floor room overlooking the paddock while providing his paddock reports. His duties in front of the grandstands required less insight to introduce fans invited to sing “Where the Turf Meets the Surf” and pick a race’s winner and to preside over the Hippety-Hop Derby, but those activities were still enjoyable for him. “I enjoyed the special things we do here,” he said. “It’s exciting to do a lot of things here.”

 

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