Month: August 2023

California Gov. Gavin Newsome has reappointed Oscar Gonzales, of Davis, to the California Horse Racing Board, where he has served since 2019 and currently is vice chairman.

Gonzales has been Vice President for Strategy at Golden State Renewable Energy since 2023. He served in the Biden Administration as Assistant Secretary of Administration at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and was also a Senior Advisor on Immigration from 2021 to 2023. He was Vice President of Government Relations for Western States at Goldman Sachs from 2020 to 2021 and was Vice President of Government and Community Relations at Aura Financial Corporation from 2017 to 2020. He also was a Consultant for the Cal State Los Angeles Dreamers Resource Center in 2017.

Gonzales served as an Obama appointee in multiple roles at the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 2009 to 2017, including State Executive Director at the Farm Service Agency, Deputy Chief of Staff in the Office of the Secretary, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration, and Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs. He was Associate Director of the United Farm Workers Foundation from 2007 to 2009 and was a cofounder and member of Rural Forward.

The CHRB position requires state Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Gonzales is a Democrat.

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Race caller Trevor Denman, who came to Del Mar in 1984 and has been the track's voice ever since, has been named the 19th recipient of the Laffit Pincay Jr. Award. He'll be honored in that role at the California racetrack on Saturday, August 19.

The Pincay Award, named for, and presented by, the Hall of Fame rider, goes to those who have served the sport of racing “with integrity, extraordinary dedication, determination and distinction.”

Denman, 70, was born in South Africa and first called races as a teenager in his native land. He came to the United States in 1983 and impressed officials at Santa Anita and Del Mar with his distinctive style, so much so that he was soon working at those racetracks and rising to the top of the race announcer ranks in the United States.

He worked at Santa Anita from 1983 to 2015. He has called at Del Mar from 1984 to today, his 38th season at the seaside oval, missing only the 2020 season due to the COVID pandemic. Additionally, he called five seasons at the now defunct Hollywood Park, along with race meets at Golden Gate Fields, Pomona, Pimlico Race Course, Laurel Park, and Atlantic City Race Course.

“Trevor is my favorite announcer,” said Pincay. “He called many of the races I rode and when I was winning a big stakes race, it was always good to hear his exciting call in the stretch.”

Pincay retired in 2003 as racing's winningest jockey with 9,530 victories.

When Denman came to the United States and began his unique style of calling, he caused a revolution in the American announcer ranks. Previously, callers in the country would note horses strictly by their positions in the race and their distance ahead of the horse behind them. But Denman instead used the race to tell a story, eschewing the “by a length” style to instead call out horses moving inside, outside, around and about in a quick tale that in effect painted a picture. He would often spot horses making a move from far back in the pack and alert his listeners to what was unfolding, giving them a preview of possible things to come.

His catch phrases became part of racetrack lore: His out-of-the-gate call of “And away they go” was a far cry from the standard “And they're off.” His others would include the likes of “They would need to sprout wings to catch…..”; “Soooo impressive;” “Moving like a winner” and “Coming like an express train… .”

He also was popular in other media. He was the caller in many racing movies – notably “Let It Ride” and “Beverly Hills Cop I and Beverly Hills Cop II” – as well as around 30 other TV and movie spots. In particular, he was the main focus of TV's long-running “The Simpsons” in one of their 2,000 shows.

He was the voice of the Breeders' Cup during its run on ESPN. In 2009 in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), he cut loose one of the most classic calls in racing annals. The mighty mare Zenyatta took on the boys in the big race and, despite being far back early, Denman picked her up making her signature moved coming into the stretch and finished up her winning run with a perfect “This-is-un-believe-able” in faultless rhythm with her final strides.

Denman and his wife of 35 years, Robin, live 10 miles outside of Wabasha, Minnesota (population 2,500) in a lovely farmhouse they had built from scratch on their 110-acre farm. They love the solace of the countryside and both are voracious readers who use all the quiet that surrounds them to their advantage.

Pincay rode for 39 seasons, including 27 summers at Del Mar, earning five Eclipse Awards as the nation's foremost rider. He also led the country in earnings on seven different occasions while compiling his exceptional win mark. Now 76-years-old, the native of Panama lives in Arcadia near Santa Anita and continues to maintain a close connection to the game.

Previous Pincay Award winners:

2022 – Ron McAnally
2021 – Dr. Gregory Ferraro
2019 – Julie Krone
2018 – Martine Bellocq
2017 – Mike Smith
2016 – Chris McCarron
2015 – Victor Espinoza
2014 – Art Sherman
2013 – Eddie Delahoussaye
2012 – John Harris
2011 – Jerry/Ann Moss
2010 – Oak Tree Racing Assn.
2009 – Merlin Volzke
2008 – Pete Pedersen
2007 – Elwood (Bud) Johnston
2006 – Mel/Warren Stute
2005 – Noble Threewitt
2004 – Bob Benoit

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