TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2018 MIRAHMADI NAMED HE IS ON TOP, SO WHY IS JIMMY TAKTER WALKING AWAY? by Bill Finley SANTA ANITA ANNOUNCER Jimmy Takter dabbled one time with a Thoroughbred he helped break named It=s Like This (Ascot Knight). He=ll watch the GI Kentucky Derby and he=ll tell you how much he admires Wayne Lukas. But this is not a Thoroughbred horse racing story. Actually, it=s not even a story about harness racing, the sport Takter has dominated almost since the day the trainer arrived from Sweden in 1982. It=s about horsemanship, excellence, an unmatched competitive drive, about someone who realized there is more to life than racing and a decision that shocked the Standardbred world. Just 58 and still far and away the top trainer in the harness game, Takter will start his last horse Thursday at Dover Downs when he sends out Thinkbig Dreambig (Bettor=s Delight) in the Progress Pace. His stable will officially shut down Saturday. His horses will be divided between his top assistant Per Engblom Frank Mirahmadi with California trainer Doug O=Neill|Equi-Photo and his daughter Nancy Johannsson, already a top trainer herself. (Click to continue to p3) Frank Mirahmadi has been named the new announcer at Santa Anita, effective with the track=s opening day Dec. 26. IN TDN EUROPE TODAY Mirahmadi, who has been announcing at tracks across the OASIS DREAM COLT LEADS TATTERSALLS country for the last 22 years, was the track announcer at A son of Oasis Dream (GB) topped the Tattersalls December Monmouth Park for the last four seasons and is currently calling Yearling Sale at 260,000gns on Monday. the races at Aqueduct. He has also called the races at Hialeah Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. Park, Oaklawn Park, Golden Gate Fields and Louisiana Downs, as well as serving brief stints at Santa Anita in 2014 and 2016. AWe=re very excited to be able to hand Frank the microphone here on opening day,@ said Tim Ritvo, COO for The Stronach Group. AIn addition to being an outstanding communicator, to know Frank is to love him. He=s a very engaging, funny guy who brings a unique perspective to his job. First and foremost, he=s a fan and I really think that=s important. He knows what our players want and he knows how to engage not only them, but newcomers as well. He=s well known and respected by our horsemen and we=re looking forward to having him do a number of promotional things in addition to calling races. I know he=ll be here on-track well in advance of opening day to get reacquainted with everyone and we can=t wait for the bell to ring on Dec. 26.@ Mirahmadi replaces Michael Wrona, who two years ago beat out fellow finalist Mirahmadi to earn the Santa Anita job. Wrona announced he had been let go by the track in a tweet Saturday evening. 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WORLDWIDE INFORMATION International Editor Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN [email protected] KEN WILKINS REJOINS ADENA SPRINGS TEAM 7 European Editor Ken Wilkins has been named stallion sales manager at Emma Berry Adena Springs Kentucky. [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 10 • THETDN.COM TUESDAY • NOVEMBER 27, 2018 Mirahmadi Named Santa Anita Announcer He is on Top, So Why is Jimmy Takter (cont. from p1) Walking Away? (Cont. from p1) AChange is never easy and we want to acknowledge Michael=s Within a day or two, Takter will be off to Australia and New contributions to Santa Anita over the past couple of years,@ said Zealand with his wife, Christina, to vacation. Ritvo. AWe appreciate his hard work and dedication and we wish AI felt like I had to do this,@ he said. AI had to work harder and him well in his next assignment.@ harder to motivate myself and you get drained. I just felt I A Los Angeles native, the 51-year-old Mirahmadi called his first cannot do it at that same level I had been doing it. If I can=t do it two races Dec. 24, 1992 when invited as a celebrity at the highest level, I don=t want to do it, and with the way I feel impersonator at Hollywood Park. right now I can=t do that. I want to be on top. That=s how I am. ASanta Anita Park has been my favorite racetrack since I Some people say maybe you should have 10 or 15 horses, but started attending horse races as a kid in the 70s,@ said that=s not me. I want to have full action or no action.@ Mirahmadi. AI have vivid recollections of where I sat watching Takter was never one for conventional wisdom, and that=s races featuring superstars such as Spectacular Bid, John Henry, among the reasons he was so good. Very few Thoroughbred Precisionist, Winning Colors, and so many others. There is no trainers ever retire. They spend their last days on Earth at the higher honor than to be named the voice of what I like to call barn. And for a Thoroughbred trainer to leave the sport with a The Great est Race Place. I am so thankful for this incredible barn full of championship caliber horses is absolutely unheard opportunity and look forward to returning home.@ of. But Takter refused to let the sport dictate his life. He was no longer happy doing what he was doing, and that=s the only reason he needed to retire. AI never allowed myself to have any hobbies,@ he said. AI never allowed myself to have any time off. I was just a working dog. That can get you a little messed up in your head. If you don=t win, you become miserable. Life is short and I want to enjoy it 100%.@ TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 10 • THETDN.COM TUESDAY • NOVEMBER 27, 2018 Jimmy Takter is more than a good trainer. While comparing Hambletonian four times. He took Moni Maker (Speedy Crown) harness racing to Thoroughbred racing isn=t an apples-to-apples all over the world and won arguably the top two trotting races type thing, you can make a compelling case that he is the most on the globe with her, the Prix d=Amerique in France and the gifted horseman in America today. Elitlopp in Sweden. AHe=s in a class by himself as far But having won virtually every as a trainer and a businessman in important race in the sport can his profession,@ said Breeders= be a problem, at least Takter Cup Chairman Fred Hertrich, who sees it that way. After a while, is a prominent breeder and the thrill just is not the same. owner in both sports. ANobody AI=m happy for Wayne Lukas outworks Jimmy, nobody out that he can still do what he thinks Jimmy, nobody is more does at his age and I=m happy innovative than Jimmy. He is a for the people that can keep credit to the game, himself and doing it forever,@ Takter said. his family. He=s done it as well as AThat=s not me. I=m sure if you anybody ever has and anybody walk up to Todd Pletcher, who ever will. The drive that he has to is a lot younger than me, or excel is remarkable, and he is his Baffert, who is about the same own worst critic. Jimmy Takter age I am, they=ll probably admit hates to lose and blames himself Jimmy Takter | U.S. Trotting Association they, too, get the sense of deja when he does.