Telling Their Stories & Calling the Races - Penn National’s Nathan Klein
By Jennifer Starr
Published on June 15, 2026
A young Nathan Klein set his sights on calling races at a very young age, and through hard work, intense studying, and practice-practice-practice, the 21-year-old’s dream is now a reality. With binoculars and a well-studied program in hand, he took his spot in the announcer’s booth at Penn National Race Course in Grantville on June 2, and became the youngest announcer to hold that esteemed position in thoroughbred racing today.
Now that his first few race nights are under his belt, he is settling in just fine. He does admit that there were nerves and jitters at the start. “If you’re not nervous, then you shouldn’t be a race caller,” he laughed. “I’ll be nervous every day. I felt a lot less nervous than compared to some of the first calls I’ve ever done. Anxiety was at its peak during the first maybe 10-30 race calls of my career. Now that I’ve gone over 200, which is still very small, you get used to the feeling. You just take a deep breath and you just go.”
Photo via Nathan Klein
And he took that deep breath, and his first race nights at Penn National went smoothly. “A lot was going right, and some could have gone better, but in terms of race calling, specifically, I was very happy with the foundation I built. But I feel like I’ve started at a very good point, and it’s only up from here!”
Nathan has called races at many tracks, but this is different…and special. “One thing I’ve never had the privilege of doing, until now, is to really personally know the track, and get used to its regular players. I’ve guest-called races at tracks, but now I get to see, day-in and day-out, how a track runs, and most importantly, the characters that I get to tell the story of. That’s one of the ‘funnest’ parts of being a race caller, that you are a story-teller! The more you know your setting, the better you can tell your story.”
He’s overwhelmed with the reception he’s received so far, especially from the horsemen at Penn National. “The hospitable welcome that I’ve been given by Pennsylvania horsemen and women has been spectacular,” he said. “I feel like I’ve already been here a few years.”
Nathan was on hand for the prestigious Penn Mile night, doing paddock interviews and commentary, and soaking in the excitement with the fans and horsemen. “It wasn’t the first big race night that I’ve been a part of, but I never get bored with it. The chaos that ensues, the amount of people you shake hands with, you kind of rejoice in the moment because this is the moment, the big day at the track, when you all celebrate. It was my ‘debut’, so to speak, and fun to be part of it.”
Growing up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and without a track nearby to study and learn his craft, he packed up his life and moved across the country to study at the University of Arizona’s Race Track Industry Program (RTIP). “It was a whole new approach, and it got lonely sometimes. It was not always easy, but I don’t regret it at all.”
Arizona was how he got his first major connection to Pennsylvania racing fellow announcer Jessica Paquette, in 2022, as she was just being thrust into the limelight at Parx. The following year at the Mentor Luncheon, he chose her as his Mentor. “We got along quite well, because we’re both horse-crazy weirdos,” he laughed. “I mean that endearingly. Getting to know another person that is there for the horses, and not just about racing, I found that very refreshing. The biggest thing I learned from her was less about race calling itself, because I had gotten a load of that. Instead, I got a lot of advice on how to carry myself as a person; the strength to be nice. Even when you feel like no one is on your side, all of that.”
“The big thing that I heard from her also was that she (Jessica) opened the door so that hopefully the next woman announcer doesn’t have to deal with half of what she did. She didn’t receive the warmest welcome when she started, and that was unfortunate.”
Nathan is open about being autistic, and the challenges that come with it. “The biggest challenge most autistic people have is finding a place in a world that wasn’t made for you, and that’s one of the most fortunate things about my time in racing.”
“Being a public figure was never the big trouble,” he admitted. “It was, kind of, managing everything that came with it. Being a race caller was what I wanted to do. That was the easy part. The hard part was everything else that comes with the job; I was raised on the internet, so PR wasn’t an issue. The biggest thing is deconstructing the fantasy of being a race caller and then accepting the reality of the job.”
“Before RTIP I didn’t want to go to college. I counted the days I could be done with school, but after learning I could go to such a niche area that fit my specific interests, I couldn’t wait to add more school!”
Developing an interest in horse racing at an early age was an encouraging factor for him. “Finding horse racing, I found something that motivated me, something just for me. From when I was young I knew what I needed and dreamed of was different from my classmates. I wish everyone has the chance to be as specific or broad as they want in their interests.”
Photo Credit PHRA
He stresses the fact that no two people on the spectrum are alike. If you’ve met one person on the spectrum, you’ve met ONE. We’re all different. My baggage is different than the next person.”
“Just because you’re on the spectrum it doesn’t mean you can’t be social,” he adds. “It’s just that it expresses itself in a different way. It just takes patience, because a lot of people don’t understand it and don’t get it. Most people don’t think of me as autistic, they just think of me as a little weird! I’m just a guy who thinks a little differently, and sometimes things are harder for me than they are for others.”
He looks forward to meeting fans and talking horses. “It’s one of the ‘funner’ parts of the job, meeting the people who enjoy your product. Getting to do that and to potentially raise more fans, especially those who are new to the sport, I think, is a great privilege that I have the chance to do. I WANT to do. I want to make change in racing.”
