Longtime Steeplechase Announcer: “I Get the Best Seat in the House”

Will O’Keefe has been a fixture of the Maryland and Virginia steeplechase scene since 1980. As an announcer, he calls more than 30 races during a busy year, and as far as steeplechase is concerned, O’Keefe has seen it all.

O'Keefe's voice has long echoed over North County horse country at the Green Spring Point-to-Point, the prestigious Maryland Hunt Cup and the Maryland Grand National, which runs Saturday.

“I thoroughly enjoy it,” he said. “Steeplechase racing is very exciting. I get the best seat in the house at every meet.”

O’Keefe, the recently retired executive director of historic Morven Park in Virginia, has been around horses and horse racing his entire life. His family raised thoroughbred horses on their 600-acre farm in Bealton, VA. When he was younger, O’Keefe, 63, had even entertained the idea of becoming a jockey.

“At 140 pounds, I was too heavy for a jockey,” laughed the small-in-stature O’Keefe. “I hunted instead.”

O’Keefe announced his first race at the Casanova Hunt Point-to-Point in 1980. As the secretary of Casanova Hunt, he was charged with the responsibility of finding a new announcer to replace the one who retired in 1979. O’Keefe assigned the role to his father, but wound up having to stand behind him, whispering the plays in his ear the entire time. He then reasoned that it would just be easier if he took over as announcer.

He's been doing it ever since.

“I personally enjoy big fields of horses where I see everything,” O'Keefe said. “I have a photographic memory of the fields. I can tell people what’s going on in places they can’t see.”

One memorable experience was overseeing the six-year victory streak of a horse named Saluter at the Virginia Gold Cup. Saluter’s winning record also includes the Cup’s fastest race time at eight minutes, 27 seconds over a four-mile course in 1995.

“I announced all of those races—and the public was so involved,” O’Keefe said. “You could hear the crowd roar.”

And announcing races is no easy task, unless you’re O’Keefe.

“Some of the most difficult names on paper are easy for me,” he said. “Runway Romance—say that 10 times in a row. I was really glad to see him retire.”

Having served as an announcer for more than 30 years, O’Keefe has developed his own distinctive style. He considers himself to be a play-by-play announcer—“like the kind you hear on the radio.”

The biggest challenge, he said, is announcing smaller races with only two or three horses.

"There’s not much that happens so it’s not much to describe," O'Keefe said. "It’s more fun and exciting when there is a good field of horses.”

O’Keefe now spends his days at his Bealton Farm with his wife, Kathleen. His daughter, Ashley, is taking prerequisite classes for nursing school.

Although retired, he is still involved with the steeplechase races at Morven Park.

O’Keefe can next be seen announcing at the Maryland Grand National on Saturday and next week at the Maryland Hunt Cup, the state’s premier steeplechase race, as he has done for the past 15 years.

“I’ve seen some incredible races over the years,” he said.