GREAT FALLS — Havre's Ron Bruschi has done play-by-play and radio announcing for plenty of sports, but he never expected himself to get into horse racing. What was unexpected has turned into more than twenty years of calling some thrilling race events.
In the summer of 1994 a man named Tom Harris called upon Bruschi to help him announce races down at the track he was managing. Bruschi was flattered that he was offered the position but told Tom that the was “barking up the wrong tree” because he had never announced a horse race in his life.
Harris was able to convince Ron into stepping into the booth to do the announcing. Bruschi was supposed to announce the final two races of the day but things got out of control and he needed to step in early, taking over at the start of the fourth race.
“As soon as I said I’ll do it, I’m like what have I gotten into,” said Bruschi, who calls races at the Montana ExpoPark. “I had the mic on my head and my heart was pounding so hard in my ears that my biggest fear was that they would hear my heart pounding over the microphone.”
After feeling that rush of calling his first race, he decided to keep going and get better at it so he could continue calling races in the future. Bruschi began to love announcing these races so much that he “can’t think of a summer without it”.
Since getting more conformable with it and finding his personality in announcing the sport, Bruschi has made it a goal of his to make the experience better for everyone solely through his announcing. He says it’s a “golden opportunity to take the atmosphere and make it better,” hoping that the public would feel the excitement through his voice and attract them to return to more events.
As someone who never expected themselves to b e in the position of announcing horse races, Bruschi encourages more people to “take the plunge” and give it a try.
“You look at it and go ‘I could never do that.' Try it, give it a shot. Go to the track to watch, learn and listen to other announcers to try and duplicate what they do. Then once you’ve mastered that part, incorporate your own personality and your own style. Give it a shot … nothing ventured is nothing gained. You never know until you try.”
