Communicator
Frank Salive’s legendary career in the announcer’s booth spanned over three decades and he was aptly nicknamed “The Voice of Canadian Standardbred Racing” by admiring racing fans and horse people.
The Leamington native competed as a World-Class Junior A hockey goalie, playing with the Peterborough Petes from 1972 to 1975, under the late, great coach, Roger Nielson. Hockey opened the door to a successful career in broadcasting, which seamlessly transitioning into an extraordinary career announcing horse races. His introduction to broadcasting was courtesy of Bill Bennett, the Petes play by play announcer, who secured him some small assignments for CHEX TV, including interviewing a young driver named Doug Brown at Kawartha Downs
In the late 1970s, Salive worked at CKSO Radio and TV in Sudbury. His initial foray into calling races was under the guidance of Sudbury Downs’ track announcer, Ken LeDrew. Next up was a stint in radio and television at CBC Windsor where he met and worked with Marty Alder, the veteran race caller at Windsor Raceway. When CBC Windsor closed, the opportunity to kickstart an announcing career arose, and Salive was calling races at Windsor, Leamington, and Dresden Raceways.
As fate would have it, in 1990, another door opened for the talented race caller. The Ontario Jockey Club was recruiting for a Standardbred track announcer. Salive auditioned for the vacancy at the Ontario Jockey Club’s harness racing tracks – Greenwood Raceway, Woodbine Racetrack, and Mohawk Raceway. From there, his career really took off and during his almost 16 years calling the races on Canada’s top harness racing circuit, with his signature silky smooth voice.
One of the most memorable and emotional race calls by Salive during this time was the 1993 Breeders Crown Mare Trot at Mohawk Raceway, in which local favourite Lifetime Dream won.
The 2003 North America Cup Final, won by Yankee Cruise at Woodbine Racetrack, was another one of Salive’s most revered race calls.
In 2005, Salive left the OJC to have more of a work-life balance, working as track announcer for four years at Western Fair in London, and he also called race cards at Clinton, Hanover, and Grand River Raceways. In 2010, he was recruited to work at Pompano Park in Florida. He stayed there for two years and then tried retirement for three years on the Island of Tobago.
Retirement didn’t last long and in 2016, Salive was back doing what he loved best, as Fort Erie Racetrack offered him a position which marked his first full-time gig announcing Thoroughbred races. He left Fort Erie in October 2021, and made his final stop as a track announcer at Ocean Downs in Maryland.
Salive’s formula for accurate and insightful race calling is strong memory work and remembering to try and serve all four audiences – the wagering public, the horse people, racetrack management and the TV crew.
It’s estimated that Salive has called close to 200,000 horse races at 75 different racetracks throughout North America. His conversant, insightful calls and his silky-smooth voice made Salive a strong favourite in the horse racing community.