Terry’s World Cup Finale

Terry Spargo, the voice of Dubai racing for almost two decades, is preparing to call his 17th and final G1 Dubai World Cup on Saturday.

Australian-born Spargo, 61, leaves the post with a heavy heart but also a host of memories, having commentated on every running of the World Cup from Captain Steve in 2001 at Nad Al Sheba to Gloria de Campeao, the first at Meydan in 2010 - to this year's winner.

"I think the stretch battle between Pleasantly Perfect and Medaglia d'Oro in 2004 is one I will never, ever forget. It was an epic race," Spargo recalled this week.

"And when Frankie Dettori won it on Electrocutionist in 2006, I thought they were going to lift the roof off the grandstand, the crowd were cheering so loudly."

Spargo was always destined to be snapped up for one of the world's top calling jobs.

He wanted to be a racecaller from the age of six, having first heard the voices of Ken Howard and Bert Bryant on Australian radio in the early sixties. Listening to racing on Saturdays with his grandfather became a family ritual.

Howard, dubbed 'Magic Eye' for his accuracy in calling tight photo finishes, was to prove an inspiration to Spargo, who even now keeps a framed picture of his calling idol on his desk.

Following a stint in country radio in Queensland as a general announcer and sports reporter, Spargo finally gained his chance, calling harness racing, or trotting as it was termed in those days.

He later became the course broadcaster, calling the gallops at the Gold Coast Turf Club, and did various stints on bush tracks, including a famous call of the Birdsville Cup at the iconic meeting in the Australian outback.

There followed a spell in Hong Kong, working at Sha Tin and Happy Valley, before he answered the call to come to Dubai.

Spargo's distinctive tones will utter the familiar cry "gates fly..." for the final time in Dubai on Saturday. He will be hard to replace.