Calling the shots with Dan Mielicki

Terang in Victoria’s western district has a proud connection with standard-bred or harness racing in this country. The tiny township, a little over 200 kilometres down the Princess Highway from Melbourne, was home to the brilliant pacer Gammalite, the first standard-bred racehorse to earn a million dollars in prizemoney in this country.

The connection doesn’t end there however, for in the summer of 1978, on an eight-race card, the career of one of Australia’s finest race-callers reached punters’ ears for the first time. High in the commentary-box at Terang racetrack sat a nervous eight-year-old from Melbourne’s inner north-west. Dan Mielicki looked down on the horses patrolling the mounting-yard down below.

‘I have unforgettable memories from that day”, recalled Mielicki.  As other kids scrounged for empty soft-drink cans behind the grandstand, Mielicki flicked through the form guide, making sure he could pronounce every horse racing at Terang. He even made sure of the scratching’s!

“I was very nervous but very prepared”, Mielicki says. “I had to stand on a wooden fruit box to have the height to get to the binoculars. The media coverage I received that day led me to do many guest calling appearances throughout Victoria and Southern New South Wales”.

Since that day Mielicki has gone on to call fourteen Melbourne Cups for Channel Ten and is currently employed with Harness Racing Victoria, calling the shots at race meetings all around Victoria. He is the regular caller at the home of harness racing in Victoria, TABCORP Park Melton.

It’s a long way from the primary school yard where he would often practice in-between visiting racecourses on weekends accompanied by his tape recorder. Mielicki honed his skills at a voice training school for radio until his mid to late teens before getting the opportunity he had been striving for.

Mielicki grew up in Melbourne’s north-western suburbs close to Moonee Valley where he spent many race days. “I would hardly have missed a meeting of either code for a long period of time growing up.”

He got his first job as sports journalist and race-caller with Channel Ten in 1987. “I called a number of harness races and gallops races during my time there but it wasn’t until 1992 that I started calling harness races full time”, Mielicki recalled.

Since then Mielicki has called the biggest harness races in the country including the Hunter and Victoria Cups and Interdominion Championships. “I love calling the big races and the champions”, he said.  “Courage Under Fire was one of my all-time favourites but I got tremendous thrills calling horses like Lyell Creek; Shakamaker; Christian Cullen and Blacks a Fake.”

Since Mielicki has been involved in harness racing there have been a few changes. The move from Moonee Valley to Melton one of the biggest.  “It is very good for eighty-five percent of the industry participants as the majority of trainers and drivers are based around that area or on the Western side of Melbourne. The move is better for Harness Racing who is going through a tough time and needed to cut the excessively high costs down and they are achieving that with a precinct that they manage and the money gets returned to the industry.”

Mielicki’s professionalism and skills took him to the Stawell Gift in 2012 where he called the famous footrace on Central Park. “I think there are some similarities in that you can always expect the unexpected. Naturally some of the athletic events are over in a flash and you really have to use the least amount of words possible for the most accurate of descriptions,” Mielicki added. “There is no time for mucking up. Of course in the harness you have extra time because of the distances however you have to make sure it doesn’t become too boring.”

Like a good actor a race-caller requires a good memory. Preparation is the key. “I study the fields and colours in the days prior,” explains Mielicki. “The bigger the meeting the more time I put in. I like to be factual and accurate.”

So with hard work and attention to detail what does make a good caller? “I think that clarity and accuracy and knowledge and facts and the ability to read a race and understand the horse and the pace of the race are what make a good caller,” says Mielicki.

Mielicki still gets back to Terang occasionally to call harness racing however for the most part Melton is the home of harness racing and calling. It’s a long way from calling into a tape recorder as an eight-year-old to calling a Melbourne Cup in front of 100,000 people, but we are sure glad Mielicki made the journey.