What Melbourne Cup race caller Matt Hill does when he makes a mistake
It’s an unusual year, with no crowds at the track, but Melbourne Cup race caller Matt Hill says he’s “feeling really relaxed” ahead of the big race.
Mr Hill, who is calling the Melbourne Cup for the fourth time this year, says he doesn’t think the crowd-free environment will impact his race call.
“We’re so involved in the race and the concentration levels are so high,” he told Tony Jones, filling in for Neil Mitchell.
“Somebody could be behind me hitting me over the back of the head with a baseball bat and I wouldn’t know. I’m just in another zone when I’m calling the Melbourne Cup.”
But if something does go wrong, Mr Hill says there’s no time to dwell.
“You might mispronounce a horses name, or even misidentify a horse,” he said.
“If that does occur you tend to just concentrate on the last 400 metres of the race because, at the end of the day, that’s the bit of the race that gets replayed over, and over, and over again.
“Last year’s cup, I probably would have heard it back about a thousand times.”
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