On the day Sunday Silence won the 1989 Kentucky Derby, BillSeward drove through Louisville in such a hurry, he didn't stay towatch the race.
He was on his way to California from Concord, N.H., where theCBS affiliate for which he was sports director had just folded.Before announcing that more than 200 people were out of jobs, thestation manager told Seward, 'This is almost as sad a day as when Ihad to put my dog to sleep.'
With a send-off like that, it's understandable that Seward, aSherman Oaks native, was eager to get home.
Still, he regrets missing his best chance to attend a Derby.
'If you said, `You could cover the NBA Finals, or the SuperBowl, or any of the other big events for broadcasters . . . I thinkthe Kentucky Derby would be a blast,' says Seward, a sports anchorfor KNX-AM (1070) and, occasionally, Channel 2. 'If I had to coverone thing, there's no doubt in my mind, it would be horse racing.It's a great sport.'
Seward, 37, who will co-host this afternoon's 'Santa AnitaToday' cablecast of the San Antonio Handicap (on tape at 6:30 p.m.,Prime Sports), is a rarity among Los Angeles sportscasters: He notonly is an unabashed Friend of Horse Racing, he is also a participantin the sport, having co-owned about a dozen thoroughbreds in the pastseven years.
Two of them are getting ready for races at Santa Anita next week- Bet a Bic, coming off a third-place finish in a $16,000 claimingrace, and Queen Helmsley, an untried filly. Both are trained by JackCarava.
Seward is the guy who, when he's delivering the scores on KNX,always makes sure to squeeze the local stakes results into his60-second to 2-1/2-minute broadcasts.
'I think I'm giving racing its due,' he says, pointing out thatdaily racing attendance compares favorably with, say, a Lakerssellout of 17,505. 'I'd like to lead the sports (report) with it,but that probably wouldn't last very long.'
Seward's enthusiasm for the races is evident when he hosts SantaAnita's Friday-night shows on Channel 56, and in showcases liketoday's, one of 11 weekend stakes to be shown on Prime Sports cableduring the Santa Anita meet. He'll co-host the coverage with KurtHoover. Jeff Siegel will provide analysis and Trevor Denman willcall the action.
'I don't put myself out there as any expert, that's for sure,but I'm aware of the sport from a number of different levels,' saysSeward, who attended his first races when he was a freshman at NotreDame High School in Sherman Oaks. 'I've been the kid who's drivingout to Santa Anita in a '65 Mustang with $12 in his pocket, saying,`I'm going to hit the double!' I've also been in the winner'scircle.'
Since he was a kid, watching Saturday races on Channel 2 showshosted by Gil Stratton, Seward has watched racing TV coverage getswallowed up by other sports. A big reason is that manysportscasters are ex-athletes and few of the rest follow racing.
Actually, Seward started out in the sports mainstream, playingthe line for the Notre Dame High football team, and serving as anassistant coach at Notre Dame and head coach at St. Bernard HighSchool in Playa del Rey from 1982 to 1984. He was the EveningOutlook coach of the year in 1982.
He coached while attending Loyola Marymount. He also started onhis broadcasting career by calling Lions basketball and baseball onthe radio.
'You can only watch so much (football) film before your eyesfall out,' Seward said of his career choice.
He worked on the air in Eureka, Oxnard and Concord, and it wasbetween that job and joining KNX that Seward indulged his love of theracetrack by working with trainer Yves Seguin at Del Mar. He got hisfirst victory as an owner two days after the 1994 Northridgeearthquake.
'Bill adds a tremendous amount,' said Amy Zimmerman, executiveproducer and director of 'Santa Anita Today.' 'Not only is he atremendous broadcaster, but he knows the game intimately.'
As an owner or a broadcaster, maybe there's a Derby in hisfuture.
Notes: Richard Mandella trains the favorites for today's$300,000 San Antonio Handicap (Soul of the Matter, as well as Dareand Go) and Sunday's $500,000 Strub Stakes (Afternoon Deelites). TheSan Antonio drew 10 horses, the Strub nine after NYRA Mile winnerFlying Chevron got sick and didn't enter. Also Sunday: the $100,000Santa Catalina, including some leading 3-year-olds, and the $200,000Palos Verdes sprint.
