Page 97 - Speedhorse November, 2018

In addition to commentating each night of the racing at Los Alamitos, and working as an analyst for satellite broadcasts of races at Los Alamitos, Burgart also makes the morning betting lines.
Q: If you were not in the horse racing business, what job would you like to have?
A: I always wanted to be a sports writer, which is a position I held with the Orange Coast Daily Pilot from 1974 until 1977.
Q: What is your favorite thing about living where you live?
A: I love the clean air and beautiful night scen- ery with a sky full of stars when we walk into the backyard of our Prescott Valley home. The altitude is 5,500 feet.
Q: If you could vacation
anywhere on the planet, where would it be and what would you
do there?
A: My wife and I want to tour the United States and visit race tracks we have never seen. In particular, I want to visit Saratoga and Belmont Park in New York.
Q: Do you have a favorite quote and, if so, what is it?
A: He is getting stronger as the race gets longer is a term I formulated when a horse is drawing away from his opposition.
Q: If you could sit down and visit with anyone, past or present, who would it be?
A: Harry Henson, who was the Hollywood Park race caller in the 1960s and 1970s. He was my idol when I grew up and I would often be heard imitating his race calls at home.
Q: What drink would your friends describe you as and why?
A: Coors Light. It has been my beer of choice since the day Denim N Diamonds won the 1981 Champion Of Champions. When I met R.D. Hubbard afterwards, I ordered a Bud Light and he said I had to drink Coors Light if I sat at his table. It has been Coors Light ever since
Q: Who’s your favorite athlete of all time, and why?
A: William Shoemaker. He was the
king of the Thoroughbred riders when
I was in high school and college. He
was the poster child for horse racing and everyone, even non-racing people, knew his name.
Q: What’s one thing you don’t
like about Quarter Horse racing?
A: The lack of media respect it gets in compari- son to Thoroughbred racing.
Q: What’s one thing you like about Quarter Horse racing?
A: I love the natural speed of the Quarter Horse and the ability to handicap a type
of racing that has fewer twists than the Thoroughbreds. I don’t have to worry about horses moving from turf to dirt or switching from synthetic to fast tracks.
SPEEDHORSE, November 2018 95
THE LIGHTER SIDE