Most famous horse racing announcer in history hailed from Evansville
The Kentucky Derby is Saturday. A man who called some of its most historic races was an Evansville native.
EVANSVILLE – Most people were nice to Chic Anderson after he made the biggest mistake of his life. It was May 3, 1975, and the public address announcer at Churchill Downs was doing what he did every spring: watch giant thoroughbreds churn down the backstretch in a whirl of mud and screams at the Kentucky Derby. It was a close race, and as many as four horses had a solid shot.
Then one of the beasts came sprinting from the outside. Squinting in the booth, Anderson thought its jockey was wearing dark brown and tan silks, making the new leader Prince Thou Art. He excitedly relayed the message to the national television audience, but just a few paces before the finish line, something caught in his throat.
"Prince Thou ... no. " He looked again.
Those silks weren't tan and brown. They were black and white. He had the wrong horse.
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