When the track's current meet concludes on June 16, Jon White, who began working for Santa Anita as a television analyst in 1993 and assumed the role of morning-line oddsmaker in 2009, will step down.
“I’ve been contemplating retirement for four years or so and feel the time is right,” White stated. “I’m about to turn 69 and would very much like to retire while in good health. I am very grateful for the opportunity to first work as a television broadcaster for both Santa Anita and HRTV and then to make the track’s morning line for all these years.”
“On behalf of everyone at Santa Anita Park, we thank Jon White for his lifetime commitment to Thoroughbred racing," noted Nate Newby, Santa Anita senior vice president and general manager. "He was incredibly and meticulously dedicated to his craft, and we wish him well on his retirement. We look forward to welcoming him back to Santa Anita as a fan.”
In 1974, White started his racing career at Playfair Race Course in his hometown of Spokane, Washington, after being hired by Daily Racing Form. This year, he was inducted into the Washington Racing Hall of Fame. He worked for DRF for 23 years, 12 of those on the Southern California circuit, where he held the positions of writer, chart-caller, and handicapper.
White began working as a television pundit for Santa Anita's simulcast network in 1993. He was employed by the national television network HRTV in 2002, making him the network's first on-air host.
In addition to serving as a racing official in three states, White is a freelance writer whose byline has appeared in several racing periodicals. In 1979, the Washington Horse Racing Commission appointed him as a steward at Yakima Meadows, making him one of the youngest stewards in American racing history at the age of 24. Afterwards, he was employed as a steward in Golden Gate Fields, Los Alamitos, Fairplex Park, Ferndale, and Les Bois Park in Idaho and California.
White has contributed articles to BloodHorse, California Thoroughbred, Thoroughbred Record, Washington Thoroughbred, and Thoroughbred Times magazines in addition to DRF. For two decades, his weekly essay has been featured on the Xpressbet.com website. In addition to winning the 2003 Mark Kaufman Media Award from the Washington Thoroughbred Breeders & Owners Association for his coverage of racing and breeding in Washington, he was honoured with the 2019 Joe Hirsch Memorial Writing Award from the New York Racing Association for his column on Xpressbet.com regarding Justify's 2018 Triple Crown run.
“Of all the thousands of charts I called for the Racing Form starting in 1974, one that I’ll never forget was the 1987 Breeders’ Cup Classic, which had a showdown for horse of the year between Kentucky Derby winners Ferdinand and Alysheba,” White remarked. “In a thriller, Ferdinand won by a nose. With so much on the line, that particular ride by Bill Shoemaker on Ferdinand, to make every right move to win by the smallest of margins, was a masterpiece.”
Since 2020, White has been creating the morning lines for Del Mar; he recently announced that he is leaving that role as well. He has qualified for eight Breeders' Cup morning lines between Santa Anita and Del Mar. He called Breeders' Cup charts at Santa Anita in 1986 and Hollywood Park in 1987 while working for DRF.
Travelling is something White, who lives in the neighbouring town of Monrovia, said he would like to do in retirement.
“I’m looking forward to a new chapter in my life,” he stated. “I have been to a slew of racetracks and, by the way, I consider Santa Anita to be the most beautiful of them all. I’ve had fun being at an Arc in France, a Melbourne Cup in Australia and two Japan Cups. I have been to 65 different tracks all over the world and am looking forward to adding to that number in retirement.”