Isn't that a bit extreme? We all have bad days, he just happened to have his during the biggest race of the year.

19 mud covered horses, 2 minutes to call a race, multiple horses from some stables with the same silks. a horse squirts thru on the rail while you've got a three horse race down the center of the track, and those three finish noses apart. yeah, it's so easy, a monkey could do it.

I haven't seen the Derby or the 2 calls yet but calling the Derby the Darby is a very rare error for Mark. He has presented American racing on the TV for the last 8 years or so and I can never once remember him calling any American Derby race as the DARBY

He does have a huge inbuilt advantage over Tom and every other American racecaller. And that's there is only one chance a year in the US to call a race of this field size.

There is one sure thing about Mark Johnson. This was week 1 of his new job. He's going to be even better by Stephen Foster day and better still by the end of the fall meet

you guys have to lighten up. you couldnt even see him coimg up the rail behind all those horse.

not to mention that he was covered in mud.

Don't forget the little town of Ai-thens, not Athens. Ever been to Desha's in Lexington? Duh-SHAY'S. We do have our quirky pronunciations.

In fact, the 'er' combo is always pronounced 'ar' in English English. 'Clark' is a phonetic spelling of clerk, and Berkshire, home of many racing stables, is 'Barkshire'. Our way of saying 'Derby' is more like 'Durby.' Nobody actually says the 'er' sound - would be Dairby.

The only thing I noticed...

Mr Hot Stuff had a shadowroll, Advice had a white bridle with no shadowroll or blinkers, Hold Me Back had a dark bridle that was indistinguishable. Would have been the only way to tell them apart...well, except for the fact that you would have known if one of them was making an absurdly premature move, it had to be Hold Me Back because Desormeaux was riding.

Wasn't Durkin's finest hour at all. Mark Johnson did a great job. Wish I could have heard that on NBC.

I've listened a couple times, never heard him say "Darby", only "Derby' with his accent.

Well said:tro:

I think Johnson did an excellent job, especially under such sloppy conditions.

Yep, I'm on board with him. Did a fine job and like his calls

I play the Japanese races and the Australian races where 20 horse fields are fairly common. Their calls are vastly superior to what Durkin subjected us to. "Spectacular, Spectacular" - hey tell me what's happening, who's in front, who's coming, is he pulling away? Is he hanging on? what duh????????

I also enjoy when the announcer gets a call in the booth from the track crew when a scratch is happening or something of the like...and the announcer answers on air.

Look he's done a lot of great calls in his life. This was not one of them. It happens.

My thing is that I will not bash Durkin for what happened. Sure it wasn't his finest moment but we know he's really good at what he does. My point is that had that been Denman, people would have been on here crucifying him anew. It's a hard job and there's a lot of pressure. They both do great jobs 99% of the time.

Not for nothing, but he missed him the first time by as well. His first time through the fireld he called Mr Hot Stuff "last of them all" before mumbling something that was difficult to make out...then he says that Mine that Bird is well behind the rest of them...

It's one thing to miss the "middle move", but it's comical that he says that Mine that Bird is down on the inside and coming on through when he already had 5 lengths on them...

I think it's 50/50 whether or not any announcer out there nails Mine That Bird just as he makes the move. It's a matter of whether or not you're looking at that spot. If you're on the wrong side of the coin it's tough. If you're on the right side, you're a genius.

I know the binoculars most announcers use have high power, which means there's more moving around the field. That's why missing horses who are way behind is an easy thing to do. Also, especially at Churchill, when they come down the stretch, they are literally running straight at you... so while your binocus are looking outside for horses closing, one can be sneaking up either farther out or down inside.

Say you just announced Pioneerof the Nile taking the lead, knowing that DerbyTrial.com is going to blow-up if he holds on. So you move outside to see if the others are closing, and because of the binoculars, your view looks like this:



And so you announce those horses in view and take down the binoculars because they're close enough to see with your naked eye and you see this:



It's really all about timing and where you happen to be looking.

Very sharp post.

:tro:

you are right, thats a tough job. why is everyone complaining? heres something novel , watch the race yourself. i hardly ever listen to the call anyway. and if you can't tell, what makes you think the announcer can? complaining about the call is sour grapes, unless you are just listening. i follow the silks all the way around. could care less what the guy is saying anyway, boo-hoo he missed a horse. should we have a re-do? how does this matter? did a different horse really win or something?

Good comments Travis. It wasn't Tom's best but clearly he was not only surprised that someone shot the rail (though with Calvin in the race...) but was shocked as all of us to find who it was. I'm sure (as someone who speaks often in public) that his "Spectacular, spectacular" coments were cover as he was double checking who it really was.
When you speak in public often without a teleprompter, or script, you develop certain phrases that become rote. When you are caught for something to say or while you are checking your notes you fall back on these phrases to "cover" the silence. Your mind knows them so well that you can utter them thoughtlessly while thinking about something else. (Anyone who has taken a long drive in a car with a chatty child has done this many times.) I'm sure that while he was saying these "mindless" words, Tom was double checking that yes indeed that was a 50-1 shot that had just blasted by the entire field in the KY Derby.

I can't completely blame Durkin for missing Mine that Bird on the backstretch instead thinking Mr. Hot Stuff was last of all - did y'all see how far behind the winner was after the first half?

For the record, this isn't the first time he's completely missed a move like that. Pleasant Home's move in the Distaff, up the rail and then 3 wide to in front he missed until she was in front. But I couldn't hear his call from the rail so I was just happy to see the saddlenumber since the idiots at the BC can't allow colors.

They should do what del mar and Kenneland does and put transmitters on the horses to determine the positions of the horses.

I said to Tina right after they crossed the wire. "OMG the way that race unfolded I could really have botched the call badly"

Exactly, vic have you ever called a race with 19 horses.

I agree, Trakus would be great for the Derby.

The biggest field that I've called is 17. It was a Michigan Sires Stakes at DRC.

I will say this. Many have surmised that European announcers are more talented because they regularly call fields of 20 or 25 or even more. Suggestiing that North American announcers would struggle.

IMO that's total rubbish. Kurt Becker could call 50 and not be fazed.

I feel very confident that there are many of us. Tom. Trevor, Larry, Frank, Dools, Wrona, Rodman and many others that could make excellent calls of the racing in Europe. We just haven't had the opportunity.

Similar scenario. 30-1 shot wins by 10, if you were him wouldn't you pause to make sure you had the right horse? Pleasant Home at least had the recognizable Phipps silks, but same idea.

Like I said before from what I've read and heard from him, he handicaps every race and has expectations of where to look for certain horses. When a seemingly impossible horse makes a huge move on the inside and shoots through for a convincing win, he probably wanted to make absolutely certain he had the right one (especially given the angle they come at there, you can't see the saddletowels to in fact confirm it was the #8.) Everybody in our group had the same reaction. "Who the f*ck was that?" At first I thought it was Fresian Fire, because at least that would make sense. Then it dawned on everyone that only Borel would make that move up the rail- and I'll be damned, it was.

Tell Becker to give up that NASCAR crap and call year round. He's great.

I think you should give it a go.

Even when I realized it was Borel I still had no clue what horse it was.

Okay, I think we're hammering this one from a few different angles. My point is he missed the horse COMPLETELY, twice, not that he didn't know who it was. At some point during the last half mile of the race, don't you think he might have looked up and noticed the only horse moving forward? Whatever, 20 horses or 6, Mr Durkin is slowing down. He is too much to into the "show" of the call, rather than the call itself. Isn't that why people started jumping all over "and down the stretch they come"?

agreed.. first I said... "what just happened"... after that it was "What NUMBER is that" then "its the 8?? Who the fucl< is the 8??" after going to my DRF "Who the fucl< is Mine that Bird?"

Put me in coach I'm ready to play!

The entirety of Churchill Downs basically said "the 8? Who the hell is the 8?" as we all simultaneously checked on our programs.

All due respect Vic, and you're terrific, but I think the the most underrated guy on this list is Dave Rodman. I wish he would get out of cruddy MD. and get a crack at a big time job. Listen to his Preakness call of '07.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjt4SiRatB0

For what it's worth I agree that Durkin is slowing down on all days, not just derby. It seemed like by the time he noted MTB being last, it was over 1/2 mile into the race. It's his style to add drama to the story and that is great when the race sets up well. The new announcer at CD was great for two days and was offering his handicapping analysis before each race on the track feed.

Dont have anything to add on the Derby call but does the Churchill announcer double as the guy in those Guinness commercials

"Brilliant"

must have said it three times in the oaks call.

ky derby race call
 

I loved the race visually but it certainly wasn't Durkins best!

He didn't see the winner until he was three lengths in front. Tough conditions and all but ...the best is suppossed tobe the best

i think we covered this one already. lets pick on someone else like grunder or that guy from the meadows harness track

Or that guy from Louisiana Downs.