Tampa Bay's Veteran Announcer Richard Grunder Retires After 37 Years

Richard Grunder retires after 37 years of announcing at Tampa Bay Downs. He is currently the longest-tenured announcer at any racetrack in the country. Gruger will remain active in horse racing as a jockey's agent at Canterbury Park in Minnesota this spring and summer. He plans to travel with his wife of 48 years, Diana, visit other racers and spend more time with son Chad and his family in El Dorado, Kan. They are planning to go to Sioux Lookout, Ontario, Canada. The trip last year was cancelled because of COVID-19. It will be difficult to fill the void.

Richard grunter called his first race at Marquis Downs in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on August 4, 1973. He worked at Assiniboia Downs, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Marquises Downs and Regina Exhibition Park, May-October 1974, and as assistant racing secretary, Portland Meadows, Ore. In 1983 he worked in Ak-Sar-Ben, Neb.