John Henry entrance from the Golden Gate stables I'll always remember on that day. He had an entourage of many people following him worthy of a King. Tears of Remembrance of that afternoon to have been in the presence of the Greatness of John Henry.
I was there to. A great race by local champ Silveyville but just like Kjell Qvale Silveyville's owner said after the race "I was like being tied to the rail" when John Henry made his move.
WOW....Thanks for posting this...I was also there!...I bet a $100 on Silveyville at 8 to 5....I thought nobody on the planet could beat that turf monster...including John Henry......But the greatness Of John Henry was never more apparent. John Gibson...to this day...the best race caller I have ever heard.
Silveyville is my racehorse's grandsire ☺️ She runs and looks IDENTICAL to him...I don't think I was born yet when this race aired, but wish I would've gotten to see some of the great legends in racing's history...
I bet on John to win that day and Silveyville to place second. It was a great race and your right about Silveyville but no way was I going to not bet John Henry in front. I made 9,300.00 that day which was my best day at the track.
John Henry was one for the ages, he could run on dirt,run on grass. He could run on the lead,and he could lay off the pace. I really think he could do just about anything.
You can see when John Henry starts to dig in with his power stride. He was truly one great horse who didn’t like losing. He was a very dominant horse who loved to win.💕🌹
Newcomers to racetrack microphones should listen and watch this tape as John Gibson calls the 1948 Golden Gate Handicap. John did an awesome impression of a great race caller named Harry Henson. I considered both of these guys friends. Make note there is none of this crapola we hear over and over these days, likd "off the lead" in this call of John Henry. Wow is this refreshing. Everybody, for reasons I cannot understand, seems compelled to copy the style of Trevor Denman. But in my opinion, you should put your own ideas to work when race calling. When Roy Shudt called the harness races, you knew it was Roy for lots of reasons. I thoroughly enjoyed taking a step back in the hourglass to listen to big John Gibson, who was very good at his trade of race announcing. Good original race callers are hard to find these days, and that's a shame. Henson ranks on my all-time best list of announcers. I think my late friend Joe Hernandez was the best. He had tempo. The Latin made chills go up and down your spine when he'd simply say: "They're they go!" Then Joe would wait several seconds before he mentioined the first horse. Hernandez had tempo, as did Henson and Gibson, none of this garbage that clutters most of today's race callers. You may disagree, and that's everyone's right, but I maintain the art of calling horse races has gone in the wrong direction. My longtime friend Eddie Burgart, the voice of Los Alamitos, brought his own style to quarter horse racing. He is, without a doubt, the best quarter horse announcer to ever call races. He's forced to be quick of mind, which he is, his calls are acutely correct, and he seldom misses calling it right at the wire. So my wish is these newcomers who want to be at the microphone some day, develop their own styles. The runaway copycat announcing ot this day and age finds me hitting the mute a majority of the time.
Silveyville still holds the track record for mile and a half on turf at GGF. John Henry’s record at mile and three eights on turf set that day still stands this day in 2021! I was there that day, when they turned for home I thought Silveyville would hold off John Henry. Silveyville didn’t fade in the stretch John Henry made a move I had never seen before.That was the best race of the 80’s at GGF. If Silveyville wasn’t in that race John Henry might not have set the record.
