Luke Humphreys is about to embark on an international broadcasting adventure and he has English race caller John Blance to thank for the opportunity.
Blance is unlikely to be aware of the part he played in Humphreys’ rise from obscurity, but the Briton’s decision to quit as one of Hong Kong Jockey Club’s race callers in 2018 was the catalyst for a then 17-year-old gaining a start as a race broadcaster.
“Then Tom Wood went from Singapore to Hong Kong (to replace Blance) and then Luke Marlow went from Sydney to Singapore, then Matt Jackson went from Melbourne to Sydney and then I replaced Matt Jackson,” Humphreys told The Straight.
“So, it was funny how it all worked out. If John Blance never left Hong Kong to go back home, it was just sort of this domino effect caused by one guy leaving who had to be replaced and so on and so on.”
When Jackson, who became Sky Racing’s No.1 greyhound caller in Sydney until his position was made redundant earlier this year by the Tabcorp-owned media business, moved interstate, it allowed Humphreys to call the greyhounds in Victoria before another harness racing broadcaster, Craig Rail, moved to New Zealand.
It paved the way for Humphreys to take up a full-time gig calling for Harness Racing Victoria.
“And I’ve done that ever since,” he says.
But just as Blance, Marlow and others have done in the past, Humphreys, 24, will soon embark on his own international thoroughbred broadcast posting, having honed his craft on Victoria’s harness racing circuit.
Humphreys will move to South Korea before the end of the year after being appointed as the Korean Racing Authority’s English-speaking broadcaster for the thrice-weekly Seoul and Busan thoroughbred meetings.
“Ever since I was 10 or 11, I've wanted to call races. My father's been involved in all three codes throughout his life and, primarily, when I was growing up, he was in the harness industry,” Humphreys said,
“So, I took a bit of interest in that when he had a couple of good horses, but I've always loved all three codes.
“And I started calling the harness and I've done some pretty cool things I'm proud of considering I'm number three caller behind Dan (Mielicki) and Lachlan McIntosh.”
Humphreys has expanded his broadcasting skillset by calling races from Turkey and South America for Arena Racing Company (ARC), the UK-based entity headed up by former Racing Queensland chief executive Brendan Parnell.
Humphreys, along with another young Australian race broadcaster, Ethan Mills, is on the roster of international commentators calling thoroughbred races from Istanbul and Argentina in English, off a live feed distributed to bookmakers and media businesses globally.
“I've called most of the main races over the last couple of years and I'm doing the World Pool race that they're taking next month (Gran Premio Latinoamericano at Gavea in Brazil), which is just about the biggest race in South America,” he said.
That experience, calling races off a monitor late at night or early in the morning from his lounge room on the other side of the world, will help Humphreys with his duties in South Korea.
Bren O’Brien
Humphries will call from a purpose-built broadcast centre at Seoul racecourse, meaning he will use a monitor rather than from a traditional vantage point high above overlooking the winning post.
He will also use the same facility to call the races from Busan remotely, with the region’s racecourse three hours by high-speed train from South Korea’s capital city.
“As everyone knows, that's becoming more and more prevalent as time goes on. But considering we're actually there (on course), it's a different setup,” Humphreys said.
“And that's how they've always done it, I think and I'm pretty used to calling off a screen with the remote stuff. To be honest, do a fair bit of it even when I'm on course (at the trots).
“But to go halfway around the world just to call race off a screen is going to be a bit of a mental challenge.”
The Korean Racing Authority meetings from Seoul and Busan are simulcast on Sky Racing, so Humphreys’ familiar voice won’t be totally lost to Australian viewers.
He also knows that by giving up his job with HRV - he has been calling as a casual employee in more recent times - that there won’t be a position to return to if it doesn’t work out in South Korea.
But it’s a challenge he’s ready for.
“I've worked as hard as I can for (the opportunity). It's all I've ever wanted to do and I've always wanted to do something internationally,” Humphreys said.
“I've been pretty lucky as I got a full-time gig when I was 17. I wasn't even able to have a bet or a drink.
“I've just been at the right place, right time and I'm just very grateful for the Korean Racing Authority to give me the opportunity, really. So, I’ll go over there and see whether I sink or swim.”
