SOME quick thinking by Albury Racing Club chief John Miller averted a potential calamity at Albury races on Tuesday.
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Miller received a phone call from race caller Mitch Manners on the morning of the races that his flight had been delayed and he was stuck at Sydney airport.
Not wanting to risk the embarrassment of not having a caller, Miller phoned another caller, James Tait, at about 11.30am as a back-up.
“It went down to the wire,” Miller said.
“Mitch rang about 8am to say there was a slight delay but as often is the case when you are waiting at airports they don’t tell you how long the delay is going to be.
“His flight kept being delayed by an hour and it got to 11.30am and he was still at the airport.
“So I rang James and luckily he answered the phone and jumped straight in the car from Gundagai.
“He arrived at the races just as the horses were leaving the mounting yard for the first.”
Miller said he would hate to think what would have happened if Tait hadn’t answered his SOS.
“The meeting would have had to go ahead without a race caller,” he said.
“But full credit to James, he called the meeting without a hiccup and without studying the form and the colours.”