For over three decades Trevor Denman was the voice of Southern California racing. A South African native, his unique style of race calling had become highly popular. When he entered semi-retirement last Decembe,r a void on the race calling landscape was left. Though he will still call Del Mar’s boutique meets, the lonely eyes of the racing world cast their eyes about for his heir apparent.
Ali Cohen – Man at work
Alistair Cohen, a native of Durban, South Africa, may very be the next South African race caller to move his microphone to the United States. An announcer and commentator for Tellytrack,the TVG of South Africa, his name was mentioned in the search for Denman’s replacement. While he was eventually passed over for the job, he will be calling this summer at select North American racetracks while on a working holiday.
Cohen grew up less than half a mile from Greyville Racecourse, one of the country’s premier racetracks.
As a small child he could hear race calls from his front porch, and would sit mesmerized while listening to the announcer describe races he couldn’t even see! His father was a devout punter (horseplayer) and would take young Alistair to the races often. He fell in love with racing and enjoyed wandering off to get closer glimpses of the action.
“I used to sneak into places I wasn’t allowed like paddocks and boardrooms because I wanted to be close to all the action.”
At the age of five he began opening race programs and making his own phantom calls. He continued to do this for several years until at the age of 12 he entered a race calling competition. He made practice tapes and sent them to the competition organizers.
Clairwood
When they learned he was only 12 years old, they thought it was a joke until Cohen proved his age. He made his first race call as part of that competition on August 10, 2003 at Clairwood Racecourse. Like almost every race calling debut, it wasn’t great but his aptitude was evident and he was encouraged to practice and continue to hone his craft.
“I like to think I have developed my own style and didn’t rely on people to help me.”
His race calling style is reminiscent of that of the lions of South African announcing such as Clyde Basel, Jehan Malherbe, David Raphael and of course, Trevor Denman. He prides himself on being accurate and his descriptive narration style of calling. He prepares heavily by studying the race card, but allows the jockeys and horses to create the story that becomes his race calls. He begins each race with his signature phrase ” Gates crash back!”, but the the rest of the race is a blank canvas. A canvas he vividly paints as the race develops.
“I like to make every call unique and try to tell a different story all the time.”
He graduated from school in 2008 and landed a job with the operator of South African racing, Phumela, in 2010. 
Shortly thereafter he began his career as a race caller. His first call as a named announcer came in August of that year at Flamingo Park in Kimberley.
Incidentally, Kimberley is where the international compact to stop the use of “blood diamonds” was signed and the setting for the final scene in the award-winning film, “Blood Diamond”.
He admits to bring nervous but his first call went off well and his career was off. Since that day, racing has not only been his career but his undying love.
“From that moment on, I’ve known I’m not doing a job, I’m fulfilling a passion.”
In addition to his announcing duties, he works as an anchor and commentator at Tellytrack. He often hosts the network’s coverage of international racing and dreams of being an announcer in the United States. He loves racing in South Africa, but the opportunities there are limited.
Trevor Denman has been calling races at Del Mar for 25 years.
As a South African, he idiolizes Trevor Denman so a switch to the country that welcomed the first South African announcer abroad, is only natural.
“Trevor Denman is a hero of mine and to follow in his footsteps would be a dream come true.”
While he missed out on the announcer’s job at Santa Anita, which was their loss, he still hopes to land a job in the United States.
He will be visiting North America this summer and hopefully calling races as well. Until that time you can hear his world class race calls via streaming video of your favorite A.D.W. When Cohen retires in 40 years after a distinguished tenure as the announcer at one of America’s premier racetracks, you can remember you first heard him mentioned right here!
www.inthewinnerscircle.net – ed by: (@kirby_grimes)
