Harness: Roger Huston stepping down as announcer at The Meadows

Roger Huston, the voice of The Meadows racing for the past 44 years, has announced his retirement. His final day of calling at the Meadows will be Saturday, November 2.

Huston began his announcing career in 1960 at the age of 17. He credits his uncle, Don Huston, former announcer at Lebanon Raceway as well as county fairs in Ohio, for getting him started. Huston joined The Meadows in 1976 and was scheduled to announce his first race on Friday, February 7, though racing was canceled that day due to an ice storm. The next day he announced his first official race and has announced 188,482 races since then. In addition to The Meadows, Huston has called races at 145 racetracks in 20 states and 8 different countries.

Huston’s multitude of accomplishments include the Little Brown Jug Wall of Fame, U.S. Harness Writer’s Communicators Hall of Fame, Washington-Greene County Hall of Fame, Alleghany County Hall of Fame, and the New York and Florida USHWA Halls of Fame. He has also been the announcer for the Little Brown Jug, harness racing’s premier pacing event, since 1968, and has been a mentor for many other announcers including Sam McKee, Barry Vicroy and Jason Settlemoir.

“I’m not totally retiring just cutting back from the day-to-day of announcing,” commented Huston. Huston has accepted a post as Ambassador for the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association and will continue to work some county fairs in Ohio, The Vincent Delaney Memorial in Dublin, Ireland and The Little Brown Jug.

“Roger has been a mainstay and a voice not just of The Meadows but all of harness racing for over 50 years. His dedication to the sport of harness racing is unparalleled and his voice will be missed by many. The Meadows team wishes him all the best in his new role with the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association,” said Mark Loewe, Vice President of Racing for The Meadows.

-release (The Meadows)