Getting to Know Charles Town Racecaller Paul Espinoza Jr.

Paul Espinoza Jr. (right) with California racecaller Trevor Denman. (Photos courtesy of Paul Espinoza Jr.)
Paul Espinoza Jr. received the holiday gift of a lifetime when it was announced a few weeks ago that he’d become the new race caller at his favorite racetrack, Charles Town in West Virginia. Not only did Espinoza, 26, grow up going to the races at Charles Town, his family has worked on the marketing and racing side of the track for four generations.
Espinoza is also the latest in a line of younger professionals migrating to racing from other industries. In Espinoza’s case, he was a television broadcaster who covered sports. Then, he competed in and won an “America's Next Racecaller" Contest in California, which gave him the push he needed to make the move into horse racing.
America’s Best Racing’s Dan Tordjman caught up with Espinoza and asked him about his new job (he’ll begin calling the races at Charles Town full-time on Jan. 7), his goals and some of his other interests in racing and beyond.
PAUL ESPINOZA JR

Dan Tordjman: What does it mean to you as "a local kid" to land the race caller job at Charles Town?
Paul Espinoza: Being a local kid makes this even more special. I've grown up around many of the horsemen and women here at Charles Town, and so I do have a personal connection to the names I will get to announce. I care immensely about the sport and the town, and want to help both continue to grow.
DT: Was Charles Town your home track growing up? What is it about racing at Charles Town that you enjoy most and that you're most looking forward to, in terms of calling races there?
PE: I’ve been going to Charles Town for as long as I can remember. Both sides of my family have been involved in racing at Charles Town for four generations, so to have this opportunity in my hometown is truly amazing. Charles Town is small-town West Virginia at its finest, and the track reflects that. It's a six-furlong (three-quarters of a mile) oval, different from the customary mile oval, and it places a bigger emphasis on speed. Our 6 1/2 and 7 furlong races are contested around two turns, which gives them more of a route feel, while the 4 1/2 furlong races are an exhilarating staple of racing at Charles Town. It gives racing here an interesting twist, and I'm looking forward to trying to capture that in my calls.
ESPINOZA JR. AND HIS FAMILY

DT: I understand that you have a background in sports on television. Has horse racing always just been your main passion though? Talk about the transition.
PE: I landed a job right out of school at WHAG-TV, the NBC affiliate in Hagerstown, Maryland. After a brief stint on the news side, I transitioned into the sports department. When I got there, they rarely covered any racing at Charles Town, so I made it a point to cover the track's big racing events like the Charles Town Classic and West Virginia Breeders' Classics. I got out of sports to pursue a career in real estate in Lexington, Ky., so even then, horse racing was still right there. The America's Next Racecaller contest at Del Mar was really the turning point. I had never called a race before that contest, despite hearing tens of thousands of race calls in my life. It went a little better than I expected, and gave me confidence that it was a job I could do. Racecalling lets me combine two of things I love, broadcasting and horse racing, so it's a perfect match.
DT: You and Matt Dinerman, a 23-year-old track announcer at Emerald Downs, are really part of this new wave of young announcers and media personalities racing. There are a lot of young people trying to get into the game, in one capacity or another. What advice would you give to them?
PE: It’s exciting to see other young people gravitating towards our great game. One of the appealing aspects of transitioning back into horse racing was joining members of this youth movement that we have. Guys like Matt show that young guys can do the job, and do it at an incredibly high level. I would tell other young people that horse racing is a sleeping giant. The American Pharoah phenomenon gave us a brief glimpse of what horse racing can be again here in the U.S. When I saw the United States social media team's coverage of the HKIR in Japan (which included America’s Best Racing’s Dan Tordjman, Victoria Garofalo, Jose Contreras and Penelope Miller), it gave me renewed hope that there's still an appetite for great racing in the world, and it can make it back to the mainstream here at home. Study the game. See what works and what doesn't. Figure out what you're passionate about, and then let people know why you're passionate about it. At its best, horse racing sells itself. Our job should be to cultivate the excitement that horse racing provides, and help continue the positive momentum that the sport is experiencing with young fans.
Lightning Round
How and when I was introduced to Thoroughbred racing: My father worked in publicity and marketing at Charles Town, and my grandfather and uncle both trained horses while I was growing up. So I’ve been around the game since birth.
THE BEST HORSE HIS GRANDFATHER EVER TRAINED

My favorite racetrack: Charles Town
My favorite Thoroughbred racing event: Kentucky Derby, with the Charles Town Classic a close second.
Other sports/teams I follow: Huge baseball fan in general, but I love the Orioles. Also love my Mountaineers, so I’m a diehard WVU football and basketball fan. I would describe my relationship with the Redskins as “it’s complicated.”
What I would like to see more of in Thoroughbred racing: Young fans embracing what a wonderful game this can be.
What I would like to see less of in Thoroughbred racing: Lack of uniformity/leadership from the top. It would be nice if someone were making sure we were all pulling in the right direction on certain issues.
Three words that define what Thoroughbred racing means to me: Breathtaking, majestic, sentimental.
Favorite all-time Thoroughbred: Shenandoah Harley (the best horse my grandfather ever bred/owned/trained). Zenyatta, on a national level.
My personal best moment in the sport of Thoroughbred racing: Winning the America’s Next Racecaller contest at Del Mar.
RACECALLING AT DEL MAR

Best racetrack food can be found at: Del Mar is tough to beat!
My favorite jockey: John Velazquez
My favorite trainer: Victor Espinosa, my grandfather who’s still training at 78 years old!
My heroes: My father and Cal Ripken Jr.
Person in Thoroughbred racing I’d like to have dinner with: Bob Baffert
Philosophy on life: The Golden Rule
Favorite non-Thoroughbred racing sports event I have attended: The 2010 Elite 8, where my Mountaineers knocked off top-seeded Kentucky (sorry BBN).
Best book I recently read: Tuesdays with Morrie
Favorite quote or motto: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky” – Michael Scott
Favorite animal other than a horse: Dog
Favorite food: Pizza
Favorite vacation spot: St. Lucia
Favorite city: Lexington, Ky.
Favorite musician/band: Drake
Favorite TV show: House of Cards currently. The Office and Breaking Bad are all-timers.
Favorite hotel: The Inn at Charles Town
Websites I visit daily: Facebook, Twitter, Equibase, Blood-Horse, Daily Racing Form, various Fantasy Baseball sites, wvusports.com
Favorite movie about horse racing: Seabiscuit
Alma Mater: West Virginia University
Favorite memento: Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Breeders’ Cup glasses
Favorite dessert: Chocolate melting cake
Favorite drink: Mint Julep. Don’t like the taste, but that means it’s Derby day.
Favorite scent: Vanilla is cool.
Favorite tech gadget: #teamiPhone
Twitter Handle: @BettorCallPaul
People I follow on Twitter: If you tweet good stuff about horse racing or baseball, I should be following you.
No. 1 Bucket-List item: Travel the world.