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Milton Pettit, who was born in Kalgoorlie and was the official race caller at Elwick.
MILTON PETTIT is as much a part of Tasmania's modern day racing fabric as the horses, riders and trainers who have helped mould the industry into what it is today.
Pettit, 84, was the official race caller at Elwick for 41 years and he held the course photography contract for over 60 years.
But all good things must end, and Pettit recently called it a day as course photographer, 21years after he called his last race.
The Tasmanian Racing Club wanted to acknowledge his contribution, so it awarded him Membership for Life, which entitles him to enjoy all the privileges of that of a paid-up member, for the rest of his days.
"I'm honoured and pleased to have been given membership for life and it will encourage me to be a frequent visitor to Elwick in the future," Pettit said.
Pettit was born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, where he honed his race-calling skills for four years before relocating to Victoria where he called a few harness meetings at Warragul.
"While in Victoria I heard there was a race calling job going in Tasmania, so I applied and got the job with the ABC and that eventually led to going to the commercial radio station 7HO.
Pettit is a people person, and it was the participants who gave him longevity in the game.
"Getting involved with owners, trainers and jockeys made the job more exciting and that's the thing that kept me going.
"We had an era in Tasmania when our group of jockeys were all class and Max Baker was one of the best and I think Brallos is the best Tasmanian horse I've seen race here."
Pettit called races in Tasmania since from 1958 to 1999 and during that time he called 41 Hobart Cups, which is a record.
Pettit loved being the course photographer but as he explained, it was tough going in the early days.
"I started the contract of course photographer at Elwick in 1960 and even though I was the race caller I hired a photographer to take the photos.
"But I also had to get someone to develop them, as well as artist to paint the colours on the jockeys' silks and someone to make the frames, so it was a costly exercise.
"But when colour photography arrived the production costs reduced significantly."
Pettit's first Hobart Cup was a memorable one.
"My first cup was 1959 and it was won by King's Thane trained by Jock Dobie and ridden by WA jockey Frank Treen, so it being won by a WA jockey made it special for me.
"I can't say I remember it as if it was yesterday, but maybe last week."
While he has no doubts about Brallos being the best horse he saw race in Tasmania he is hesitant to compare horses from different eras.
"I don't want to get into the game of comparing horses from different eras because it would be unfair to them all.
"Let's just say I've seen many great horses during my time as a caller and photographer and that our racing stands tall, given the size of our population."