Most famous horse racing announcer in history hailed from Evansville

The station eventually assigned him to call "the race of the day" at Ellis Park.

"His effort was so outstanding that when the position of track announcer became vacant, the track hired Anderson for the job," the Courier & Press wrote years later. "He was an instant hit, and it wasn't long before famous Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby ... sought his services."

His first Derby came in 1961. But he'd call hundreds if not thousands of races per year, not only at Churchill Downs but at Keeneland in Lexington, Santa Anita in California, and Rockingham Park in New Hampshire, among many others. It left him living out of an assortment of suitcases and racing back to Evansville on off times to catch glimpses of his beloved family.

In 1969, the work paid off. CBS hired him to be the TV voice not only of the Derby, but of the entire Triple Crown run. He eventually watched legends like Seattle Slew and Affirmed complete the gauntlet.

'A tremendous machine'

His greatest, and most historic, call came in 1973.

Secretariat stormed through the Derby and Preakness that year. By the time the Belmont rolled around, the giant horse looked like Shaq lined up next to a bunch of eighth-graders. Only one foe stood in his way: Sham.

The 3-year-old could have been a racing legend had he born any other year. Sham's 1:59.8 time at the '73 Derby still stands as the second-fastest finish ever. There was only one other racehorse in the history of the world who could have beaten him – and in a case of horrific luck, that horse happened to be standing right next to him.

As the Belmont leapt off, the two were shoulder-to-shoulder. They shot ahead of the rest of the field with ease, a pair of Harleys against a sea of mopeds.

Then it happened. As if a mechanic dropped out of a helicopter and strapped an engine to the horse's hide, Secretariat vanished. His lead ballooned so much that the cameramen had to pan back to catch a glimpse of the other animals.

Nothing like that had ever happened in such a prestigious race, and Anderson described it with a quip that became part of sports history: "Secretariat is widening now. He's moving like a tremendous machine!"

'World's greatest'

That call rang in Belmont officials ears, and in May 1977 the New York Racing Association made Anderson their official track announcer. That allowed he and his family to settle down for the first time in years, buying a house in Long Island.

On March 24, 1979, while shaving in front of his still-new bathroom mirror, he suffered a heart attack and died later that day. He was only 47 years old.

He was survived by his wife Marsha and their five children. Eventually they brought him home to be buried in Evansville. The back of his tombstone shows horses thundering through Churchill Downs.

"World's greatest thoroughbred racing announcer," the inscription reads. "Husband, father."

Information from the Evansville Courier & Press archives.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Kentucky Derby: Race's most famous announcer came from Evansville