Legacy Families: In NKy, ‘Battaglia’ means horse racing; they are ‘true stewards’ of Turfway Park

Mike Battaglia, right, in his Edgewood home with son Bret, holds a picture of his father, John Battaglia. In the photo, John Battaglia is reading the ‘Daily Racing Form’ as he recovers from a heart attack in the hospital. (Photo provided)

This is the second in an occasional series on Northern Kentucky’s “Legacy Families,” those families who have been involved in the region’s civic and/or business affairs for multi-generations. If you have a suggestion for a Legacy Family feature, please email judy@nkytrib.com

By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune contributor

Iconic families are as much a part of horse racing as jockey silks, oval tracks and the magnificent beasts themselves. The first family of Northern Kentucky racing, the Battaglias of Turfway Park fame, are as prominent as any.

The Battaglia name has been synonymous with horse racing in Northern Kentucky since the new Latonia Race Course opened in Florence in 1959.

The late John Battaglia, a publicity director in the early days of Latonia and later the track’s general manager, started the Grade II Spiral Stakes, which has become a key Kentucky Derby Prep, in 1972.

Mike Battaglia, John’s son, called the second Spiral Stakes a year later and has been the track announcer and race caller ever since. He has also called 19 Kentucky Derbys, including Affirmed’s thrilling victory over Alydar in 1977, and has been a NBC analyst for the Triple Crown races and the Breeders’ Cup.

In the last decade Mike’s son, Bret Battaglia, has begun to carve his own niche at Turfway Park, first in the video room and more recently, setting the morning line odds.

Robert Elliston, now chief operating officer of the Breeders’ Cup, was Turfway’s CEO for 13 years beginning in 1999 and said the Battaglia family are the true stewards of Turfway Park racing.

“I go back, not only to Mike but his father John, who may have had as much to do with Turfway’s success and legacy in the community as anyone,” Elliston said. “Then you look at Mike and his tenure there and in horse racing, with the Kentucky Derby and NBC Sports and now you have the third generation with Bret. That’s pretty cool and that’s one of the things that is unique and special about Turfway.”

Mike Battaglia describes his father as a visionary, whose innovations, including starting night racing in Kentucky, helped shape the modern horse racing industry.

“Before anyone was talking about (intertrack wagering) he asked why we run only a few months a year when we could be open year-round taking bets from other tracks,” Battaglia said.

Battaglia said his father got into the business of horse racing by providing selections to The Kentucky Post as the “Post Time” handicapper.

“He told (an editor), ‘I can do a better job than these guys you’ve got picking horses, and if I can’t you don’t have to pay me,’” Battaglia said.

Mike Battaglia recalls many in the industry scoffed when his father pitched the idea for a race at Turfway that would allow horses to “spiral up” to the Kentucky Derby.

“I was working publicity then and he started telling people that he had an idea for a race at Latonia that could be a Kentucky Derby prep and nobody believed it because the purse was just $10,000,” Battaglia said. “The idea was that horses could ship in early to Kentucky and race in the Spiral Stakes, the Bluegrass Stakes at Keeneland and then the Kentucky Derby.”

Undaunted by critics, John Battaglia launched the Spiral Stakes and in 1976 Inca Roca won the race and ran seventh of nine horses in the Kentucky Derby. By 1983 Marfa was installed as the Kentucky Derby favorite after winning the Spiral Stakes, cementing the Turfway race as a major prep race to the Run for the Roses.
Since that time, horses that have run in the Spiral Stakes have captured all three legs of the Triple Crown, including Animal Kingdom, which won the Kentucky Derby in 2011.

Like so many visionaries, John Battaglia never got to see his dream fully realized. He passed away in 1981, but his legacy lives on with another race on the road to the Kentucky Derby. The John Battaglia Memorial Stakes, first run in 1982, has become Turfway’s prep race for the Spiral Stakes and attracts top-tier competition each year as well.

The late Pat Harmon of Cincinnati Post fame, a longtime family friend and iconic local sportswriter, presented the first trophy for the John Battaglia Memorial.

At one time, John Battaglia was the general manager of Latonia, River Downs, Charles Town Race Course in West Virginia and Miles Park in Louisville.

“Every track he went to showed huge improvement and that’s how I got started,” Mike Battaglia said.

Battaglia, 65, began working at Latonia when he was about 15 years old and got his break as an announcer when the legendary Chic Anderson left Miles Park for a better job.

Mike Battaglia stands next to a photo of 1978 Kentucky Derby winner Affirmed that is autographed by winning jockey Steve Cauthen of Walton. The race was the first Kentucky Derby Battaglia called and the first and only won by Cauthen, who became the youngest jockey ever to win the Triple Crown and began riding in Europe a year later. (Photo provided)

“Dad called me and told me to get an announcer,” Battaglia said. “Nobody wanted the job, so my dad said ‘just come and do it.’”

Battaglia had never called a race before, and the three reasons his dad gave for his chance to be successful were not exactly a ringing endorsement.

The first was that nobody comes to Miles Park, second was that the sound system was so poor people wouldn’t be able to hear him anyway. The third, and maybe the clincher, was that no matter how bad Mike screwed up, his father was not going to fire him.

“I never had a practice race, I just went in and did it,” Battaglia said. “My father called after the race and said, ‘Just keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll be fine.’”

Battaglia kept doing what he was doing and by 1973 was also calling races at Latonia.

That same year Anderson delivered the race call that would immortalize him in horse racing lore. His line, “He is moving like a tremendous machine,” while calling Secretariat’s 31-length, Triple Crown-clinching victory in the Belmont Stakes, might be the most oft-quoted in racing history.

Just five years later, Battaglia would deliver his own memorable race call at Churchill downs as Affirmed and Alydar battled to the wire in the Kentucky Derby. Battaglia has a photo in his Edgewood home, autographed by winning jockey Steve Cauthen, of Affirmed crossing the wire with the Walton native aboard.

“I was just 28 years old,” Battaglia said.

Battaglia has also called races at Churchill Downs and Keeneland during his storied career.

Battaglia’s race-calling cadence has become among the most recognizable in the industry. His subdued “and they’re off…breaking for the lead” tone to start a race might be maintained throughout a contest without much activity, or can rise to a crescendo during a furious stretch battle.

“You have to remember, and what I’d forgotten a few years ago at Turfway, is that if it’s a $5,000 claiming race or the Kentucky Derby, there are people that care about the outcome,” Battaglia said. “For a while, I was just phoning it in and I told Bret and my wife that I was either going to start doing it right or I was quitting. Now I call the races like I really care, because I do.”

In 1975, Battaglia got his first radio gig, which also included some legendary sports icons.

Race of the day at Keeneland featured University of Kentucky radio announcer Cawood Ledford, now deceased and Tom Hammond, who is one of the top-tier announcers for NBC sports.

It was Hammond who prompted Battaglia’s entry into live television on the local Today at Keeneland show in Lexington. When Hammond’s NBC obligations conflicted with the local show, Battaglia filled in.

“I went in cold on that, too,” Battaglia said. “I just went in, sat down and started doing a live, half-hour television show.”

In 1994, NBC needed someone to do handicapping and interviews and with Hammond’s recommendation, Battaglia got the job. He has become a fixture in Breeders’ Cup and Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown, coverage as well.

He did not work the Breeders’ Cup last year, but took the opportunity to call races at Churchill Downs again during that week. He returns to the network for Triple Crown coverage again this year.

Bret Battaglia, 35, said Turfway Park has always been a part of his life.

“I don’t remember my first trip, but I can’t ever remember not being there,” Battaglia said. “I remember standing in front of the television and trying to block field goals for the football bets.”

His handicapping education began early, watching races from the booth and poring over the racing program with his father.

Elliston affectionately describes the younger Battaglia as a “track rat.”

“Bret was pretty young and was working in the television group when I was there,” Elliston said. “I watched him and his dad talking and you could see he was a real student of the sport. Of course, I’m not sure he had a choice with the Battaglia genes in him.”

It wasn’t until 2004, when Bret Battaglia started working in the video room that his love of the sport flourished into a potential career path.

He worked for the simulcast companies that transmitted the signals to and from other racetracks.
“When you go into the racetrack, I was in charge of the televisions, so if you didn’t see what you wanted to see, that was my fault,” he said. “I was still at the racetrack and had a betting machine in my office, so that was nice.”

Bret did not become an actual Turfway employee until he began setting the morning line two years ago. He started by helping his father out and seemed to be a natural for the job.

Mike Battaglia has set the morning line at several tracks, including Keeneland, Arlington and Churchill Downs, in addition to Turfway. Mike’s brother, Bruce Battaglia, has also set the morning lines at several tracks, including River Down, Ellis Park and Latonia.

“When I would get an NBC gig, he would fill in and was doing a good job,” Mike Battaglia said. “I went to (Turfway General Manager) Chip Bach and said I really think he can do this. I wasn’t watching the horses as much as he was because he was working at Turfway in the video room.”

Bach was also confident Bret Battaglia could do the job and pegged him to provide selections for each race as well.

“He’s been doing it a couple years under the watchful eye of Mike and we’ve talked to a lot of our handicappers who say the morning lines he’s been setting have been right on,” Bach said. “He’s recognized as a strong resource and if we fail to put his selections on our Facebook page, we hear about it pretty quickly.”

While Bret Battaglia shares the family’s love of horse racing, the uncertainty in the industry has prompted him to hedge his bets a bit.

The influx of casinos nationwide has negatively impacted tracks such as Turfway that are legislatively prohibited from offering slots or other casino games. In recent years, Turfway has greatly reduced its schedule and now only offers live racing in the winter and early spring.

In addition to his Turfway duties, Bret Battaglia now also works full-time as a software test engineer and consultant at Ascendum, a software company in Blue Ash.

Bret’s father helped him get a foot in the door at Turfway, but he got the Ascendum job on his own and Mike has never been prouder.

“I was really glad to see it because you never know what might happen in horse racing and he has a great job now,” Mike Battaglia said.

While the family’s love of horse racing might outlive the track that fostered it, Bach said he hopes that as long as there is a Turfway Park, the Battaglias will play an active role.

“Over the course of Latonia and then Turfway Park, the Battaglia name has been the thread that holds it all together.”