Charles David (Chic) Anderson (December 17, 1931 - March 24, 1979) was an American sportscaster and public-address announcer, specializing in Thoroughbred horse racing. He was one of American sports' most famous PA voices, and remains among its most revered race callers. Horse-racing is an equestrian sporting activity which has been practiced over the centuries; the chariot races of Roman times were an early example, as was the contest of the steeds of the god Odin and the giant Hrungnir in Norse mythology. ...

Racing background

A native of Evansville, Indiana, Anderson got his start in horse racing in 1951, working part-time in the mutuel department at Dade Park (now Ellis Park) in nearby Henderson, Kentucky. Eight years later, in 1959, Anderson became track announcer. Evansville is a city located in Vanderburgh County, Indiana. ... Ellis Park is a throughbred racetrack in Henderson, Kentucky. ... Henderson is a city located in Henderson County, Kentucky. ...

The following year, in 1960, Anderson also became the public-address voice of Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. He would call 16 Runs for the Roses between then and 1977. During that stretch, Anderson also worked as a Midwest sports anchor, gaining the TV experience that would serve him well nationally in the 1970s. Composite image of Churchill Downs on Derby Day, 1901 Churchill Downs, located on Central Avenue in Louisville, Kentucky, is a thoroughbred racetrack most famous for hosting the Kentucky Derby. ... Churchill Downs ractrack, 2004 The Kentucky Derby is a stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred horses, staged yearly in Louisville, Kentucky on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. ...

In addition to Ellis and Churchill, Anderson worked at Oaklawn, Ak-Sar-Ben and Arlington Park racetracks in the 1960s and 70s.

Starting in 1970, Anderson's Derby calls would not only be heard by Churchill patrons but also on the CBS Television Network, where he assumed Jack Drees's role on the network's coverage of all three Triple Crown races, as well as other thoroughbred events. Anderson would eventually gain a level of fame as a national race caller exceeded only by that of Clem McCarthy and Ted Husing. CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System) is a major television network and radio broadcaster in the United States. ... The Triple Crown is a term sometimes used to describe the three-tiered crown or tiara formerly used by popes. ... Clem McCarthy was a famous broadcaster of horse races and boxing matches from the late 1920s to the early 1950s. ... Edward Britt (Ted) Husing (November 27, 1901 - August 10, 1962) was an American sports broadcaster. ...

Because of his TV experience and knowledge of horses, CBS adopted him as a full-fledged member of their sportscasting team for big races, provding jockey interviews and insights as well as the race calls.

Anderson would remain at Churchill Downs until May 1977. After calling Seattle Slew's victory in the Derby for both Churchill and ABC Television, he moved his base of operations to the New York Racing Association tracks (including Belmont Park), succeeding NYRA race caller Dave Johnson. That allowed him to call Slew's victory in the 1977 Belmont Stakes for the racetrack, which likely makes Anderson the only man to call two Triple Crown races on the tracks' public-address systems in one year. Seattle Slew (February 15, 1974 – May 7, 2002) was an American thoroughbred race horse that won the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing in 1977, only the tenth horse to accomplish the feat. ... // Look up ABC and abc in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The New York Racing Association is the non-profit governing body for thoroughbred horse-racing in the state of New York. ... Secretariats statue greets racing fans and jockeys in the paddock of Belmont Park. ... The Belmont Stakes is a prestigious horse race held yearly in June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. ...

Anderson's New York-based career was brief. He died of a heart attack on March 24, 1979 at his home in Commack, New York, on Long Island. He was succeeded at both NYRA and CBS by his backup, Marshall Cassidy. Commack is a census-designated place located in Suffolk County, New York. ... The four counties of Long Island. ...

'A tremendous machine!'

Anderson authored the two most famous calls in horse-racing history -- and two of the most famous sportscasts in TV history -- the Triple Crown clinchings in the Belmont Stakes of 1973 and 1978. The Belmont Stakes is a prestigious horse race held yearly in June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. ...

He was behind the CBS Television mic on June 9, 1973, when Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Secretariat tried to become the first horse in a quarter century to win the Crown. A stunned Anderson punctuated Big Red powerful move on the final turn of the '73 Belmont this way: The Preakness Stakes is a classic 1 3/16 mile (1. ... 1999 stamp honoring Secretariat His only point of reference is himself. ...

...Secretariat is blazing along! The first three-quarters of a mile in 1:09 and four fifths. Secretariat is widening now! He is moving like a TREMENDOUS machine! Secretariat by twelve, Secretariat by fourteen lengths on the turn! Sham is dropping back. It looks like they'll catch him today, as My Gallant and Twice a Prince are both coming up to him now. But Secretariat is all alone! He's out there almost a sixteenth of a mile away from the rest of the horses! Secretariat is in a position that seems impossible to catch. He's into the stretch. Secretariat leads this field by eighteen lengths, and now Twice a Prince has taken second and My Gallant has moved back to third. They're in the stretch. Secretariat has opened a twenty-two length lead! He is going to be the Triple Crown winner! Here comes Secretariat to the wire. An unbelievable, an amazing performance! He hits the finish twenty-five lengths in front! It's going to be Twice a Prince second, My Gallant third, Private Smiles fourth, and Sham, who had it today, dropped back to fifth.

A few seconds later, reviewing the videotape of Secretariat's stretch romp, Anderson humbly admitted it was hard to count lengths as Big Red raced toward home. "I said twenty-five," Anderson said. "It could conceivably have been more."

In fact, the champion's winning margin was fully 31 lengths - a distance it took careful examination of videotape and trackside photographs to measure.

'We'll test these two to the wire!'

Five years later, for both CBS Sports and the Belmont Park fans, Anderson called a Belmont Stakes race that was as close as the 1973 Belmont was a romp.

Affirmed and Alydar -- who battled each other closely both as 2 year old horses and in the 1978 Triple Crown races (with Affirmed prevailing barely in both the Derby and Preakness) -- renewed their battle in that year's Belmont. They hooked up in earnest a half-mile into the race and held a virtual match race for the rest of the event. Affirmed, a chestnut colt born February 21, 1975, at Harbor View Farm, Ocala, Florida – died January 12, 2001 at Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, was an American thoroughbred race horse that won the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing in 1978, only the 11th horse to accomplish the feat. ... Alydar, a chestnut colt born at Calumet Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, on March 23, 1975 – died at Calumet Farm on November 15, 1990, was an American thoroughbred race horse who was most famous for finishing a close second to Affirmed in all three races of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred...

...It is still Affirmed as they come to the quarter pole. He's holding on to a head lead. Alydar is outside of him and challenging that lead. The two are heads apart and Alydar's got a LEAD! Alydar put a head in front right in the middle of the stretch! It's Alydar and Affirmed battling back along the inside! We'll test these two to the wire! Affirmed under a left-hand whip! Alydar on the outside driving! Affirmed and Alydar heads apart. Affirmed's got a nose in front as they come on the wire!

Then, shutting off the PA microphone (as track announcers did then) but keeping his CBS mic hot, he described the final moment of victory:

...At the finish, it's going to be dead tight -- AFFIRMED won it! He wins the Triple Crown. Alydar is second! Steve Cauthen salutes the crowd. Darby Creek Road in third, Judge Advocate fourth, and Noon Time Spender finished fifth -- and what a STIRRING stretch battle! They both had their shot at this one during the stretch run!

The voice of racing

Anderson's style as a public-address announcer-- even when the PA call was carried on also TV -- was low-key, almost robotic, at the start of a race (on arena PA systems rapid-fire calls often end up a blur to the ears of fans scattered throughout a track or stadium). Then he would pick up a vibrant pace halfway through the race.

Anderson used a more rapid-fire style when his call aired only on TV, maintaining a more brisk pace while remaining somewhat measured, avoiding the cliches and the screaming style other track announcers adopted in the 1980s and beyond.

Prince Thou Ain't

His only prominent mistake came in the 1975 Derby, which he called for both the Churchill fans and ABC Television.

Confused by the similar silks of the Foolish Pleasure and Prince Thou Art, he described Prince Thou Art as the leader during the late stages of the race, before correcting himself near the end. A newspaper headline on Anderson's rare error read "Prince Thou Ain't.