Mike Battaglia is an American horse racing analyst,

race caller A race caller is a public-address announcer or sportscaster who describes the progress of a race, either for on-track or radio and TV fans. They are most prominent in horse racing, auto racing and track-and-field events. Among the jobs of a race ...

and television broadcaster. He is most closely associated with Churchill Downs, the Kentucky Derby and as the on-air talent for

Keeneland Racecourse Keeneland Association, Inc. is an equine business based in Lexington, Kentucky. It includes two distinct divisions: the Keeneland Race Course, a Thoroughbred racing facility, and Keeneland Sales, a horse auction complex. It is also known for its ...

with Katie Gensler. Battaglia has worked most of his career at Churchill and

Turfway Park Turfway Park is an American horse racing track located within the city limits of Florence, Kentucky, about south of the Ohio River at Cincinnati. The track conducts live Thoroughbred horse racing during two meets each year—Holiday (December), ...

. He has set the morning line odds at Churchill since 1974, and was the race announcer there from 1977 to 1996. He left his position as analyst for simulcast racing in 2008. Mike is also the morning line oddsmaker for Turfway Park and Keeneland. His son Bret Battaglia was the morning line oddsmaker for Ellis Park in 2010 and 2011, and has been the oddsmaker at

since December 2013. Battaglia was a member of the NBC Sports broadcast team for the Kentucky Derby and the

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () o ...

from when the network gained broadcast rights in 2001 until 2016. He also worked the Belmont Stakes for NBC from 2001 through 2005, the

Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Grade I Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was a single-day event; starting in 2007, ...

from 1993 through 2005, and various other races televised by NBC from 1993 onward. Mike Battaglia was in the 2010 movie ''

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the Ame ...

'' as well as the 1999 film ''

Nice Guys Sleep Alone ''Nice Guys Sleep Alone'' is a 1999 romantic comedy film written and directed by Stu Pollard. The film is based on a book of the same title, written by Bruce Feirstein. Synopsis A young man in Louisville sees his dating failures are related to h ...

''.

References

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* American horse racing announcers American horse racing commentators Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-horseracing-bio-stub