Durkin is the best, hands down no argument. I'm not a fan of Denman, let's just leave it at that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LryUYkWR3tM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70BAs0p9enA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EufebE8bcH4

I was gonna try to put a few more up, but got swamped at work.

If Zenyatta, Rachel and Larry Collmus were in a race, I wonder who would win...

:D

this wife doesn't know....

Make it stop! :p

How about, "they'd need to sprout wings ? " Hand me the barf bag. Then he stole a line from Johnston at CD , "the more they asked, the more she gave"

Who waits to mute Denman, who names every horse entering the gate. The man is on permanent mute. His catch phrases are redundant. Oh, and his job as shill for the Pick 6 bet $$$ totals and potential carryovers, guestimating how much the carryover will be too.
The only reason the sound is left on is to get a bet down before the start, then mute. Meh.

i have battaglia muted from start to stop if i watch turfway.

Seriously? It's pretty clear. " ‘Mywifenosevrything’ more than ‘Thewifedoesntknow!” Obviously Mywifenosevrything won. Took me forever to figure out how they spelled these names. Ridiculous. If ya gotta do this level of gymnastics to make something silly fit, name the horse something else.

Trevor is by far the best announcer out there. He is like Tiger Woods, where he raised the bar for announcers in calling races, when he came to the US and stared working at Santa Anita . Also who is this Johnston guy you are talking about? Trevor has been saying that for years.

Toe-may-toe / toe-mah-toe

Personally, Denman isn't even the best announcer in Cali. While I realize i'm in the minority, i'd give that distinction to Wrona.

Agreed, it's like arguing who is the greatest horse of all time, but when someone says Trevor is not good, they don't know what they are talking about. I like Wrona also, it's too bad he is stuck at GG.

you do realize people have different tastes? not caring for an announcer does not mean someone doesn't know what they're talking about.

I agree on that also, but some of his comments were laughable

Are race callers even needed? With live video, trackus and graphics that post fractions, a race caller is simply a traditional part of a race. People dont listen to race calls on the radio anymore so it has to be more than the mellow mundane mono-tone voice of Larry Collmus. I could care less nor even know the horses name I bet on in a 25k claimer.

Durkin does more than tell you who is in front or who is in fifth. He tells a story and provides the appropriate emotion for the specific race. He captures the moment perfectly as evident in his many many race calls. This goes with Denman as well with his vernaculars. They provide accurate race calls as well as commentary during the race. Most callers avoid that or do not know how to incorporate it in the race. Hence the lengendary status of Durkin and Denman.

Collmus is perfect for telling me departure and arrival times at JFK but as a race caller.....YAWNfest. Even when he tries to provide emotion, his voice cracks and is simply awful.....2012 Preakness stakes for example.

T.D. and denman have been the 2 best for 20 some years.

Trevor is a shadow of what he once was in his calls. He now relies on trite cliched catch phrases. He [B]used to be[B] excellent. ;)

Durkin is not exactly what he once was either, while we are being critical.

Both of them still bring more excitement than LC does, but it is what it is. The announcer is way down the list in terms of importance in the sport.

Saw this and thought oh wow... someone finally said it.

Brave you (...and yes, I do agree).
An interesting point / question and one I'm surprised I hadn't heard before.

Announcers are only needed on track, and for simulcasts that don't have TRACKUS. Otherwise who listens? I just follow the chicklets. The chicklets will let you follow the complete trip of your horse. Who needs an announcer with TRACKUS.

If you take other sports for example Football, Basketball, Hockey, there are more color commentary and comedic relief than it is play by play calls in recent years.