DEL MAR PRESENTS : Les Kepics: Nine Very Short Shows Daily

Les Kepics will be the first to admit that his job of trumpeting “the call” for nine daily races at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club can be painfully monotonous--creativity is not mentioned in the job description.

He’ll also tell you that he’s often taken for granted by his public. Sometimes so much so that people don’t even realize he’s doing his job. In fact, the more perfect Kepics is, the less he is recognized.

In that regard, Kepics’ profession can be compared to that of an umpire. And like the umpire, the public will let him know when he makes a mistake, in this case missing a note.

“The initial reaction is you get 20,000 people sucking wind in at the same time,” he said. “That’s usually followed by some jeers and other choice remarks.

“You could play 150, 200 calls perfect and get no reaction. But the first time you miss, boy, they all know how that song goes, and it doesn’t take much to get a rise out of them.”

Kepics got one last week at a time the monotony usually has become particularly excruciating. Before the seventh race, a 2-year-old maiden came charging at him.

He missed a note or two.

“That’s usually when trouble happens, because you get in the swing of things,” he said. “There’s some fancy tonguing work involved, and I sort of messed up the beginning of the second half of the call.”

But Kepics regained his composure by the next race and even made light of his misplay while joking with the fans.

For some race callers, the fans can be brutal, and playing the right note can become an exercise in futility.

Dan Smith, director of marketing and media at Del Mar, recalls such a situation when he worked at the Santa Anita race track.

“This guy couldn’t handle the fans psychologically,” Smith said. “He would worry about what the fans’ reactions would be, and he’d get tense before every call. For some people, it’s not an easy thing to do. You’re out there very exposed. If (Kepics) does make an error, he can stand the gas.”

Smith said he knows what that’s like.

“I played trumpet in the army, and it’s easy to split a note,” Smith said. “Playing every half hour is not easy either. His lips are cold, and he has to be ready to play it perfect every time.”

And like the national anthem, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” or other classic, Kepics doesn’t have the luxury of improvising.

“Everybody and their brother knows the tune; they can hear a mistake a mile away,” Smith said.

During his five years at Del Mar, Kepics said he has never been affected by the crowd. If anything, Kepics said, he welcomes a reaction.

“You have to play with people,” he said. “You get guys that want to taunt you that’ll say, ‘I bet you can’t do it again.’ But I’ve asked people, would you rather me play it perfect every time or miss once in a while? They say, ‘Miss once in a while.’ They enjoy that. Otherwise, they think it’s a tape recording.”

Which, Kepics says, is what some people actually believe.

“They come up and ask me, ‘Is that really you playing?’ ” he said.

Yes, folks, it’s really Kepics, playing the call on his B-flat trumpet twice before each race, six days a week for almost two months. And if you ask him, he’ll even tell you how many notes he plays--31.

“I’ve even got it down now to how much I make per note,” Kepics said.

A note-counter by day, Kepics changes his tune at night and lets his creativity on the trumpet run wild.

As a free-lancer, Kepics has played for such notables as The Temptations, The Four Tops and Bob Hope. And how does his daily gig at Del Mar compare to playing with an ensemble or The Temps?

“For a musician who is used to playing with an ensemble or an orchestra, it’s really different to play a little two-measure thing,” Kepics said. “It’s not really that difficult of a thing to play, but every time you go out there, to play you have to have your focus and your concentration together.

“And for horn players, it’s a good steady job during the day at a time when you normally wouldn’t be active. And it’s a steady yearly thing, which means a lot in the music business.”

The steadiness has kept Kepics for much longer than he ever thought possible.

“I never imagined doing this, and I surely never imagined doing it for five years,” he said.

Smith said Kepics was originally hired because he could belt out “the call” more cleanly and articulately than any of the other three trumpet players he auditioned with.

Smith said he has not been disappointed by his hire.

“We take a Spanish approach (Kepics wears a Spanish-style outfit), and he plays it pretty straight,” Smith said. “But he has a great sound and a terrific tone.”

Kepics said that sound has evolved ever-so-slightly over the years.

“I do it a lot different now than when I first started here,” Kepics said. “I used to be very aggressive with it. I played it real fast and powerful. Now I’ve tried to back off and play it more musical--play with the time and the rhythm a little.”

A little is about all Kepics can afford to play with it. Anything more, and the people might start believing he actually exists.