Calling it in the family

Durban – The father-son duo of Craig and Sheldon Peters will once again be the men behind the microphone at this year’s Vodacom Durban July to be held at Greyville Racecourse on Saturday 2 July.

Veteran commentator Craig Peters began calling races back in 1977 in Bloemfontein after spending years watching horseracing in Gauteng.

“I would always go with my parents to watch the races when I was younger. Those were the days when kids weren’t allowed into the course so I had to sit alongside the track and watch all the action” said Craig, describing where his love of commentating developed.

Craig, known as “Eagle Eye” to those within the racing community due to his accuracy in picking out the winner well before a race has finished, inspired his son Sheldon to follow in his footsteps.

“I grew up wanting to be a jockey, but I grew too quick,” laughed Sheldon. Instead the youngster spent much of his childhood watching and listening to his father.

The Peters family would often sit around the dinner table while Craig and Sheldon would take turns commentating. Craig insists that commentating is not something that can be taught, but practise is the essential element to reach success in the industry.

“I spent three years practising into a tape before I was able to call my first live race,” said Sheldon, who won first prize in an amateur commentating competition to read a live race when he was seventeen years old.

Craig and Sheldon are the first ever father and son team in the world to call a Grade 1 race at the same time and venue, a feat they accomplished at the 2005 Vodacom Durban July.

The pair recalls their fondest racing memory when they both couldn’t make a decision on the winner of the 2008 Vodacom Durban July, which was an eventual dead heat between Dancer’s Daughter and Pocket Power.

Both Craig and Sheldon have only just begun their preparations for calling the twelve races set for the Vodacom Durban July. “We study the race card and memorise the horses, jockeys’ names and silks and work from there,” said Sheldon.

As casual horseracing betters they both opt never to bet on the Vodacom Durban July as they find selecting the winner too much pressure.

I have seen Sheldon placing bets on the july but never Craig.

sheldon is a huge punter!