Jackson Relishes Guest Announcer Role at Turf Paradise

A new voice has described the racing action at Turf Paradise this week, with a British accent similar to the track's full-time announcer, Craig Braddick, but with a different pitch.

Dani Jackson, familiar to racing observers in the United Kingdom as a regular commentator and announcer of greyhound racing, has been a guest race caller this week at the Phoenix track, sharing duties with Braddick. The latter has mentored Jackson over the last six months.

From Manchester, U.K., Jackson works overseas for William Hill as a television host and commentator. She also hosts Racing Post social media videos previewing greyhound races.

But she aspires to branch into a full-time position as a horse racing announcer, a goal that gained traction in June when Jackson responded to the tweet from Braddick offering a chance for a female guest announcer to call at Turf Paradise.

Jackson sent Braddick samples of her calls. After an initial critique, in the months leading up to her Turf Paradise appearance, they have conversed from afar via video conference on suggestions for her race calling.

Jackson said her initial two race calls this week at Turf Paradise were merely "passable" but now feels more comfortable for her week-long stint.

"It's the best thing that's ever happened," she said of her career opportunity.

Recently, Jackson auditioned with RaceTech in the U.K. for a position as a race caller.

"I don't know if I've got to the next round yet, but fingers crossed," she said.

Though there are numerous female television and paddock hosts at racetracks, female race callers are a tiny minority relative to their male counterparts, both in America and abroad. A limited number of females have announced racing action domestically in recent years.

But another female announcer will be behind the microphone next week.

Jessica Paquette, racing analyst for Sam Houston Race Park and Colonial Downs, said she would fill in for current Sam Houston announcer Nick Tammaro next week while he attends to family matters. Tammaro tweeted Jan. 20 that his father had died.

"I'm more than happy to pinch-hit," she said.

Paquette was previously part of a group of individuals who announced at Sam Houston during its Quarter Horse meet last summer after its announcer that winter and spring, Chris Griffin, accepted a position at Parx Racing. She previously became the first woman to call a race on the New England circuit in 2014 at defunct Suffolk Downs, when the track's customary announcer could not get to the track before racing began. She also called a steeplechase race at Colonial this past summer.

According to published reports, Angela Hermann was the first woman to call a full card of Thoroughbred races in North America in 2013 at Canterbury Park. She later announced a season of racing at Golden Gate Fields in 2016.

Dawn Lupul also has reportedly called harness races in Canada, announcing a full card of Standardbreds in 2009. 

These female announcers followed Ann Elliott, who called at Jefferson Downs in the 1960s.

In Britain, "there's nobody, at all," Jackson said of current announcers.

"Racing is very male-dominated. Sports broadcasting really is, as well," added Paquette. "Only until very recently did you start to hear a woman's voice doing play-by-play or other commentary besides sideline reporting. 

"Part of this is getting folks used to hearing a woman's voice. I perfectly understand that that's a little unusual for people when you are so accustomed to the normal."

Jackson has been largely positively received, even on social media, in which critics abound on almost every topic.

Paquette praised Jackson's calls, though she called out Turf Paradise for a since-deleted tweet in which the track account, handled by Braddick, partially referenced that she was neither his girlfriend nor sister.

Implications of such opportunity, even without ill intentions, "are antiquated and offensive," Paquette said.

Braddick, who declined comment on the tweet, wants the focus on Jackson and her performance in the booth. He called her "a very talented race caller" who has done "a wonderful, wonderful job."

"I am very delighted and very proud of her after all the hard work we have put in over the last six months, zoom conferences, listening to dozens and dozens of calls, and giving her feedback," he added. "She's really brought her 'A' game to Turf Paradise. I couldn't be more proud of what she has achieved right now."

Jackson is similarly appreciative of Braddick's time and guidance.

"I couldn't ask for a better mentor, really," she said.

His idea to lure Jackson into the Turf Paradise booth has also been rewarding for the Arizona track, drawing attention to a track with modest racing.

Asked how she hopes to parlay her stateside experience, Jackson didn't hesitate.

"I want to be a U.K. race caller, and be the first female race caller that that goes to tracks," she said. "That would be my main job, what I want to do."