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Millions
of people call themselves sports fans — but how many turn
their passions into their careers?
Growing
up in Virginia, Luke Kruytbosch (pronounced KRITE-boss) was
the consummate "sports-nut." In the days before ESPN, he stayed
up late to watch nightly highlights. His appetite for sports
knew no boundaries: football... basketball...hockey...horse
racing...motorcross. It wasn't long before Luke developed a
repertoire of announcer impressions. He imitated many of the
greats, including Chic Anderson, Vin Scully and Marv Albert.
Although his impressions became quite good, Luke never fantasized
about being "in the booth."
"I never
even though it was realistic. I couldn't stand the sound of
my own voice. So I never really considered doing it even though
I always did imitations of announcers."
During high
school, a friend fostered Luke's interest in the ponies. They
took periodic trips to Laurel Park during study hall, inspired
by the racing gospel of Andy Beyer. It wasn't long before Luke
got serious about handicapping. He taped replay shows, poured
over result charts, and made his own speed figures.
By the time
that he was through college, Luke had decided on a career in
horse racing. He aspired to work in the racing office -- part
of management that deals with organizing live races.
His career
began in the "bush leagues," small tracks and fair operations
in the Southwest. In 1986, he was working at a county-fair track
in Holbrook, Arizona. In the middle of a desert, ironically,
it was rain that would change his fate. It poured down, leaving
an off track and a soggy announcer's booth. The track announcer
had seen enough and left. Luke made his way up to the booth,
eager to give it a shot. After smooth sailing in his first attempt,
he was allowed to narrate the rest of the card. The regular
announcer's gracious offer to let Luke continue "as long as
it keeps raining" gave Luke a chance to prove himself.
All of a
sudden, the racing office didn't seem so appealing. He had found
his "calling" and was sticking to it.
Part of
Luke's astronomical success came from his willingness to hoof
it at racing's lower circuits. He wasn't above any announcer's
job, and he took them all-- over 30 different tracks from coast
to coast. Those early days may not have been glamorous, but
they allowed Luke ample time to develop and perfect his own
style of announcing.
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Years at
tracks like Prescott Downs and the Yuma Fair led to opportunities
at Turf Paradise and Los Alamitos. From there, it was only a
few years before top circuits took notice. His next stop was
a huge jump from Arizona to Hollywood Park. It was a totally
different ballgame, from calling one graded stakes a year to
tens of them -- even million-dollar races.
Luke flourished
in his role at Hollywood and eventually beat out a talented
group of announcers for the job at Churchill Downs. At age 36,
he had been to the Preakness and Belmont many times -- but never
to the Kentucky Derby. In May of 1998, Luke found himself in
the odd position of calling the nation's greatest race before
witnessing it with his own eyes.
"That was
kind of overwhelming -- my first time hearing 'My Old Kentucky
Home' live."
Overwhelming
or not, the fact that Luke called the next three Derbies says
that he's doing something right. Basking in the glow of his
success, you'd expect him to be full of himself -- but that's
not the case. Though Churchill is one of the nation's premier
meets, he makes no qualms about calling at Turf Paradise and
Ellis Park. Whether the ponies are going for a million bucks
or a few thousand, Luke radiates love for the sport.
"I'm very
lucky that I'm just naturally very excited about the races--$1,500
claimers at Blue Ribbon Downs or the Kentucky Derby. If it's
a good race, I'm excited about it."
Out of the
Gate is compiled by KTTC
board member Laura Proctor.
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