TRACK ANNOUNCER DALE DAY FINISHES 10TH IN NTRA NATIONAL HORSEPLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP IN LAS VEGAS
It was a huge weekend for Remington Park track announcer Dale Day in Las Vegas. Day, a native of Ohio who lives in Piedmont, Okla., finished 10th among 643 entrants vying for a $725,000 first prize in the NTRA’s National Horseplayers Championship this past weekend.
Day earned $50,000 for finishing 10th and then reveled in joy as he watched his all-time favorite NFL team, the Cincinnati Bengals reach the Super Bowl for the first time since 1989.
It was quite a chore for Day to get into the final table of 10 finalists, however. It was a three-day tournament, making imaginary wagers of $2 to win and place. As your horses ran first and second, the money they paid out across the board was placed into your bankroll. During his Day 2 run, he was sitting at 128th, far from the Top 10 one needed to be in to cash for minimum $50,000. He would need to finish 64th or higher to win any cash at all.
As he tried to get into the Top 10, his big run started with a horse ridden by jockey Luis Quinonez, the second all-time winningest rider at Remington Park. Quinonez put 7-1 Bob’s Edge in the winner’s circle at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., giving Day’s bankroll a $16.60 to win and $7.60 to place boost.
That moved Day up to 19th place in the tournament. On the last race of Day 2 of the tournament, he needed to pass 10 people to get to the final and be guaranteed that $50,000 minimum. Day eyeballed a horse trained by Racing Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas at Oaklawn that was going off at 19-1 odds, Ethereal Road. He didn’t even have to sweat the finish. The horse, under rider Luis Contreras, pulled away to win by four lengths. Now all Day had to do was hope and pray the $41.20 to win and $11.80 to place would be enough to get him into the top 10. The waiting was intense but a few minutes later the final Day 2 standings were put up on the screen and it showed Day in 10th place.
Day moved into ninth place, which would have been a payout of $55,000, but on the final race of the tournament, the guy in 10th place behind him found a horse to run second for him and moved past Day.
“Biggest trip to Vegas ever and I have not relaxed at all,” Day said. “High stress! But my Bengals are in the Super Bowl, baby!”
Day began his full-time duties behind the Remington Park microphone, calling the Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse races in 2004.
Racing at Remington Park this meet are scheduled to begin normally Thursday-Saturday at 6 p.m. nightly and then Sunday racing at 4 p.m. Special start times include Kentucky Derby Day (May 7) and Preakness Stakes Day (May 21) when Remington Park action begins at Noon. The Champions’ Night program on May 28 will begin at 5pm. All times are Central.
Tracked by more than 167,000 fans on Facebook and 10,600 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $285 Million to the State of Oklahoma general education fund since the opening of the casino in 2005. Located at the junction of Interstates 35 & 44, in the heart of the Oklahoma City Adventure District, Remington Park begins the 2022 American Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa racing season on March 3. Simulcast horse racing featured daily, the casino is always open! Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.
-30-