Dinerman chosen as new Emerald Downs track announcer

AUBURN, Wash. – Emerald Downs has a new voice. Matt Dinerman, a 22-year-old San Diego native who wowed Emerald officials during a recent audition, has been hired as the replacement for longtime track announcer Robert Geller, who leaves for Woodbine next month.

Dinerman grew up attending the races at Del Mar and spent four summers walking hots for trainer John Sadler and another two as part of Del Mar’s publicity team. He recently graduated from Chapman University in Orange, Calif. This will be his first go-round as a full-time announcer.

Dinerman’s audition consisted of two live race calls May 2, after which track president Phil Ziegler offered him the post for the rest of the 2015 meeting.

“We consider Matt Dinerman to be a very talented young man,” Ziegler said in a statement. “He has a great aptitude for announcing races, and he figures to get even better with experience. It’s great to have him on board.”

Dinerman started his chores at Emerald Downs this week, shadowing Geller and getting the lay of the land before he takes over full time June 12. Geller, who is replacing the retiring Dan Loiselle at Woodbine in Toronto, will call his final Emerald card June 7.

Dinerman was hired following an accelerated search led by Sophia McKee, Emerald’s vice president of marketing. Ziegler and Ron Crockett, the former track president now serving in an advisory role, also were involved in sorting through the applicants and reviewing sample race calls. Dinerman’s name popped up out of the blue.

“I got an e-mail from a student at the University of Arizona who said, ‘Hey, I’ve got this friend who’s been practicing as an announcer. Would you even consider him?’ ” McKee said. “Well, he submitted some samples and a résumé, and he’s really good. He’d go up on the roof at San Anita or Del Mar and just practice. He doesn’t have the experience, but you can tell he has the talent and an eye for it.

“I think we got about 20 applications,” McKee said of the process. “We got big names that everybody would recognize, and then some other names. We had a couple of international applicants that we really liked, but given the time line, we weren’t able to consider them right now. But when Matt came up and called the races and really fit in with the team here, it seems like a really good fit.

“I think what you’re going to get from him is accuracy. That’s what he needs to develop first, and then you’ll see a style, so to speak. But accuracy is what he’s going to be focused on.”