One man, high above the regular crowd, gets a bird’s-eye view of the historic Saratoga Race Course.

NYRA trackside announcer John Imbriale, better known as John I., has the best seat in the house. For more than 40 years, John has worked as one of the voices for the New York Racing Association.

It’s surprising, considering John wasn’t the biggest racing fan growing up.

“I only had a casual interest in horse racing when I was growing up," Imbriale says. "Some family members had more of an interest than I did.”

But the interest took off in the late 1970s. John has since been the backup announcer to the likes of Tom Durkin and, most recently, Larry Collmus before landing the lead spot in 2020.

“I think I learned a little bit of observing, watching and listening to all of the people that have worked tremendously before me,” Imbriale says.

Before a day of racing, John is usually found at his desk, marking up his booklet. Different colors signify different silks for the horses and jockeys.

“It gives me a pretty good idea if I get stuck or forget something, then I can just peek down," He says. "It’s kind of a cheat sheet, but it does help.”

From there, he grabs his binoculars for the first race.

“If you start up here with your level of excitement and anxiousness and stuff, well, then you have nowhere to go," Imbriale says. "You want to start down here and build. Obviously, the bigger races get the bigger attention. You are more naturally pumped up.”

There are mistakes, but in John’s line of work, you learn and move past.

“When there’s a mistake made, and mistakes are made, you’ve got to turn the page somehow. Unless it’s the last race of the day, there’s another race coming up and you can’t do anything about it,” Imbriale says.

John’s voice is now synonymous with the track, which gives him an enjoyable anonymity.

“I think that’s the reason I haven’t been run over by a vehicle," Imbriale says laughing. "If they didn’t like one of my calls, they don’t know who I am. I think I appreciate that people do recognize the voice and they can’t see me. That combination hopefully still works in a positive way.”

But he says of all the tracks he’s announced at, Saratoga takes the cake.

“If you just walk through the parking lot at the track, you just see all the different license plates," he says. "You see where people have come from. A lot of Floridas, but you see Michigan, Ohio, you see everything. It’s just a great mix of people everywhere across the country. It’s great.”