Forever Linked, Two Dans Meet Face-to-Face

[Wandering Eyes]

When retired iconic Woodbine race announcer Dan Loiselle reflects on his 29 years of calling Thoroughbred races, there is one horse that stands out among all the others–Wise Dan (Wiseman’s Ferry)–and having a chance to meet the champion horse for the first time last week provided him with a special memory.

Loiselle, who retired in 2015 and was recently voted into the Canadian Horse Race Hall of Fame, happened to be on a two-week road trip in the U.S. with his wife, Wendy. They visited some historic places, such as Graceland, the Civil Rights Museum, the Grand Ole Opry, Churchill Downs (because Wendy had never been to the track), Keeneland and the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. But a key part of their itinerary, in particular in Lexington, was visiting the Forest Lane Farm of the Wise Dan’s trainer Charlie LoPresti and his wife, Amy.

Loiselle wanted to see Wise Dan because he personally stood out from all the horses–and not just because of a similar name.

“In 2012, he won the Woodbine Mile and went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Mile and was named the American Horse of the Year,” Loiselle said. “In 2013 he won the Woodbine Mile and Johnny Velazquez rode him and he never even asked the horse to run and he broke the course record. He then went on to win the Breeders’ Cup again and went on to become the American Horse of the Year again. When they came to the wire in 2013, I said, ‘Here he is, the Titan of the Turf. The sensational Wise Dan.’

“All I read about him for the next week was everybody calling him the Titan of the Turf. So he was my favorite horse and calling those two Woodbine Miles was really special. So when I was in Lexington last week, I got a hold of Charlie LoPresti and his wife Amy and went out to the farm and I got a picture of the big chestnut horse standing in the paddock with me.

“It’s a picture of Wise Dan and Dumb Dan together,” Loiselle joked. “It was great to see the old horse and he looks really good.”

Because of his fixture calling races high above the Woodbine grandstand, Loiselle had never seen the horse up close, and when he called the LoPresti’s home phone and left a message saying he wanted to drop by the farm to see Wise Dan, Amy told Charlie he had to immediately call him back and tell him how much they wanted to see him.

“I was dying to meet him because he’s got such a great, great voice,” Amy said. “He’s like Tom Durkin. Honestly, it’s a shame that he retired. There’s certain people that have that kind of voice for calling races. He put so much into it, you can tell. He said [the 2013 Woodbine Mile] was his favorite race he ever called. I said me, too. I was just thrilled that they came. It meant a lot to me.

“That was a really big deal for me because I didn’t travel with [the horse] and I lived everything vicariously through my nephew and Charlie because they went everywhere with him. Charlie would tell me stories about meeting people and Woodbine was one of his favorite, favorite places to go. They were so nice to them up there. It’s the greatest turf course that there is.”

Coincidentally, Amy had been watching races of Wise Dan a week before Loiselle called.

“It’s just kind of funny he called a week later,” Amy said.

Loiselle said he and Wendy spent an hour with the horse.

“He’s a lovely animal and I’ve heard stories about him, how approachable he was, how you could pet him, but fierce and determined as a racehorse,” Loiselle said. “I had thought I’d love to see him, and if it doesn’t happen that’s fine, too.”

Charlie LoPresti, who was unavailable when the Loiselles came to the farm because he had a horse racing that day, said it was the first time an announcer had dropped by to see the horse.

“He’s just a great race caller, but I think Wise Dan meant so much to him and I was flattered that he called and wanted to come see him,” LoPresti said. “There’s been a lot of people come see him–a lot of media–but that’s the first time a race caller had come see him.”

Loiselle said Wise Dan’s personal connection to him is because of what the horse did for Canadian horse racing.

“I was just so impressed by him,” Loiselle said. “You don’t see a lot of American champions come to Woodbine [and dominate]. Kentucky Derby winner Funny Cide came to Woodbine and won the Dominion Day and A.P. Indy came to Woodbine [to run in the now-defunct Molson Mile], but not a lot of really, really, high profile horses. You don’t see American Pharoahs and California Chromes at Woodbine, but Wise Dan did.”

With Loiselle three years removed from race-calling, Robert Geller has taken over announcing duties at Woodbine. The Toronto oval’s 63rd year of Thoroughbred racing begins Saturday with a 10-race card that includes Pink Lloyd, the favorite to win Canadian Horse of the Year honors Thursday night at the 2018 Sovereign Awards, entered in the Jacques Cartier S.

 

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