Michael Wrona loves to keep tabs on Aussie horses in the US. Here he is with dual Australian Gr. 1 winner Accomplice in retirement at Sacremento.
Michael was in the broadcast box at Los Alamitos when we caught up with him recently. We begin by talking about his Aussie accent, unchanged after more than thirty years in the USA.
He talks of his appointment as track announcer at the Los Alamitos track in California in the wake of his shock dismissal by the owners of Santa Anita.
Michael takes us through the dual breed format of Los Alamitos programming - the combination of thoroughbred and quarter horse racing.
We turn back the clock to the day Michael and I arrived at Hollywood Park for a six meeting commitment. If the crowds and simulcast viewers liked the Queenslander’s style he had the job at the famous track.
Michael remembers Marjorie Everett, the dynamic chairperson of the Hollywood Park Operating Company and some of her eccentric ways.
He reflects on the first big race he got to call in California featuring the clash of two topliners.
Michael was stunned when offered the chance to share calling duties at the reopening of Agua Caliente where Phar Lap had won his only race outside Australia.
He looks back on the first of several interruptions to his career. Marjorie Everett was deposed as Hollywood Park supremo and the new administration preferred another caller. He quickly gained a new job at Bay Meadows in San Francisco.
The Aussie commentator talks of a brief return to Hollywood Park and the opportunity to feature in an episode of the famous Seinfeld sitcom.
Michael talks of his dismissal from Bay Meadows. Luckily he still had employment with Golden Gate Fields, another famous San Francisco track.
He talks of an offer from an exciting new track in Texas. Retama Park opened amidst great fanfare, but closed before the completion of its first season.
Around this time Michael enjoyed a brief stint at the famous Arlington Park track in Chicago. During this time he got to call a history making performance by the champion Cigar.
Life took a bizarre twist for Michael when he was reappointed by Hollywood Park after the shock resignation of Trevor Denman. He called the race in which Lafitt Pincay Jnr broke Willie Shoemaker’s riding record.
The much travelled Wrona talks of an exciting offer from another Texan enterprise called Lone Star Park where he would spend five years. For three years during Lone Star’s off season he worked at Fairgrounds in New Orleans. Both tracks were taken over by new management and history repeated itself when Michael was finished up.
Michael talks of his separation from first wife Julie whose acting career kept them apart for long periods of time. His spirits were lifted by the opportunity to call the 2000 Preakness Stakes.
In 2005 he returned to California where he called the races for both Golden Gate and Bay Meadows. He talks of a quick trip to Argentina to cover South America’s biggest race.
Michael talks of 2015 - a helluva year for the expatriate Aussie. He won the job at Santa Anita after a prolonged audition process and had to deal with the persistence of his first stalker.
By now he’d become very philosophical about the lack of job security in the US. His dismissal from Santa Anita shocked him to the core.
On a lighter note Michael talks of his marriage to the delightful Kathy and the interpretation of certain expressions he used in his race calls - expressions happily accepted in Australia but not so in the States.
He talks of a whirlwind schedule through 2019 which gave him little time to think about the Santa Anita disaster.
It’s a lovely catch up with the Brisbane kid who has showcased the Australian style of race calling all over the USA.
(Banner image - Michael gets ready for a night behind the microphone at Los Alamitos in Calfornia.)
The Aussie caller was thrilled to meet champion NZ mare Let’s Elope. The great mare won 7 straight in Victoria including the 1991 Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.
Michael Wrona with another great expatriate Aussie Strawberry Road who won 4 Gr.1s at home and another in Germany before retiring to stud in the U.S.A.
Michael Wrona catches up with Hollywood legend Mel Brooks at a Los Alamitos race meeting.
Mike says hello to Bint Marscay at Old Friends Farm in Kentucky. Bint Marscays four Australian wins included the 1993 Golden Slipper.