Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Contact: Ashley Herriman
NYRA DIRECTOR OF TV PRODUCTION AND RACECALLER JOHN IMBRIALE TO PARTICIPATE IN LIVE WEB CHAT
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – John Imbriale, NYRA’s director of TV production and race announcer for much of the Aqueduct Racetrack Winter/Spring meet, will participate in a live web chat Friday, April 16, at 8:00 p.m. EST on nyra.com.
A native New Yorker, Imbriale joined NYRA in 1979 after winning a New York Daily News contest for aspiring racecallers which provided a job in the NYRA Press Office as part of the grand prize. Imbriale learned the art of racecalling from Marshall Cassidy, who served as NYRA’s primary announcer from 1979-1990, and over the years also worked with the legendary Harvey Pack, longtime host of the NYRA recap show, “Thoroughbred Action.”
Today, Imbriale serves as a backup for NYRA announcer Tom Durkin, calling the races for most of the Winter/Spring Meet at Aqueduct. Though this is his most visible role with the company, Imbriale’s primary role at NYRA is director of TV production. As such, he directs the simulcast feeds for Aqueduct,
In 2009, Imbriale produced the first season of MSG+’s “Saturdays at
Fans who wish to participate in the live dialogue with Imbriale may log on to http://www.nyra.com/livechat beginning this Friday at 8 p.m. No pre-registration is necessary and users may simply type questions and comments in the chat field at the bottom of the page for Imbriale to address. At the conclusion of the chat, an “instant replay” is created for future reference.
NYRA has conducted live chats on Friday evenings since October 23. Imbriale will be the sixth guest host in the chat series, following NYRA Chief Operating Officer Hal Handel, leading trainer Gary Contessa, veteran New York jockey Richard Migliore, and Hall of Fame rider Jorge Velasquez, and trainer and NYTHA president, Rick Violette. NYRA TV Analyst Andy Serling regularly hosts the chats.
Fans who wish to view transcriptions of previous chats may do so at http://www.nyra.com/livechat.
- NYRA.com – Main website for Aqueduct,
- BelmontStakes.com – Comprehensive Belmont Stakes coverage
- Rachel’s Sandbox – Everything fans want to know about Rachel Alexandra
- NYRAGroupSales.com – Group sales info on Aqueduct,
- On The Lead – NYRA’s official monthly email newsletter
- Twitter.com/NYRAnews – Racing updates at Aqueduct,
- Twitter.com/andyserling – Race analysis at Aqueduct,
- NYRA Facebook – Offers all the latest news on Aqueduct,
- NYRA YouTube – Offers videos including trainer and jockey interviews, Trips & Traps
- NYRA Flickr – Offers pictures from Aqueduct,
- NYRA Insider Blog – Go behind the scenes at Aqueduct,
- NYRA Community Relations Blog – NYRA’s community outreach efforts
- NYRA Spotlight – Videos spotlighting NYRA racetrack personnel
- New York Watch – Read about up-and-coming stars from the NYRA circuit
- Backstretch Buzz – Exclusive videos from the backstretch
- Riders Up – In-depth interviews with members of the NYRA jockey colony
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