Tom Durkin we missed you
 

Trevor Denman had a rough day calling races, in the Juvenile he didn't pick up Street Sense until he opened up 6 lengths and I'm still wondering if he knows Pine Island broke down. Tom Durkin you were truly missed.

Tom Durkin posts here?

I like Tom D. but he's slipping...Last week he was reading about refunds when they sprung the gate...totally missed the break..he actually said "oh, and I guess I'll call the race for you..." he's getting embarassing.

Poor Trevor....choked under pressure. The sad thing is that he really is the best technical race caller in the game....he sees moves and events develope and calls them before they happen, versus react to them after they happen like all others - but Saturday was disappointing....

I agree with you that Durkin's slipping, but it does seem as though he does a bit more preparation. This has all been said here already, but watching the replays again I really was stunned at some of the miscues.

Where'd the corgi go?

Durkin has done some of my favorite races calls over the years...and lately some of the worst IMO.

Corgi will be back...big brother Oscar wanted a turn:)

Calling Breeder's Cup races with fields of 14 is slightly different than calling 6 horse Del Mar races. His calls also lacked the excitement of Durkin's calls.

Yeah Durkin's more exciting, but lately he's relying a bit too heavily on adjectives... Exhilarating! Electrifying! Scintillating! Thundering!

(And usually he's describing a maiden claimer field.)

And it's usually a 22 3/5 quarter that he's describing.

Right, I forgot that part. A BLISTERING quarter.

make that a NY bred 2YO Filly MCL...LOL

I agree completely. i was thrilled that he would be calling and i hope he gets another shot next year - -though the juvy and the distaff were suspect.

the tv in my hotel room in chicago was so fuzzy that you couldn't make out the silks or numbers on the saddle cloths, so due to his call i thought great hunter was winning the juvy when i saw the horse sneaking up the middle.

a sixteenth of a mile later i realized that my ticket was good after all.

i thought he did a fine job though, in the other six races -- totally as good as i would expect from him. he sees things happen before they do, i love it.

Its either a blistering pace, or they are blazing away on the front end.
This is in the range of 22 2/5 and 22 4/5.

I don't remember what 22 flat is. Suicidal? Scorching?

American In England
 

I Like Englishmen As Much As The Next Guy But For An American Race Track I Prefer American Voices. Are There Any Americans Calling Races In England?

Is Trevor English? I thought he was Australian or South African or somewhere not in Europe :confused:

he's south african

There they go.....we need Calo to call the Breeders Cup.

Thats what I thought...Wrona is the Aussie

the incomprable, invincible, unbeatable...

I know those NY Bred races are brutal to watch and wager, but it is just awful when Durkin tries to bring excitement to them.

I still would prefer Durkin over Denman in the big races. That was unexcusable what he did in the Juvy. Almost as bad as the announcer at Hoosier Park during the running of the Indiana Derby this year.

Spooky Mulder!

Trevor Denman
 

Yes, Trev did blow the call on Street Sense and on Pine Island. That being said I do enjoy his race calls. I like the fact that he often calls our attention to the color of the jockey's silks, cap or the horses saddlecloth as a means of identifying horses. Very helpful in big fields. Still, being a NY bred, Durkin is still my fave.

He stinks. Hows that for an analysis of his calls?
He gets away with a lot of that bull**** out in Cali with the small fields. Doesn't have to go back through the field too many times and can use all his superlatives and adjectives.
Different story when you actually have to describe the scene with 14 horses and go back and call all their names, harder to use those worn out exhausted old cliches that he specializes in, and God forbid he give the fractions, that would take away from his schtick.
Hes the most overrated caller in the history of the sport. All style, no substance.

Also failed to include Premium Tap as third in the Classic...

He was way too busy looking in his superlatives handbook to bother with something so trivial as getting who was 3rd in a 5 million dollar race out there. I truly believe he sounded disappointed and rattled when Bern got beat. I think he had scripted a version of some ranting he was going to make "when Bern won" and hadn't considered the alternative. I think thats why he stammered, stuttered, and struggled.

that's funny...and prolly right

Mike..

Haskin said the EXACT same thing Sunday.. that Denman had so rehersed his Bernardini down the stretch call, that he was utterly unprepared for an alternative result.. And then had little emotion to offer a call that will be heard for a long time...

Haskin also said a win by Bernardini would have him join the immortals or racing. These guys are supposed to be the great writers of the sport but are nothing more than cheerleaders, clueless ones at that.

Not too many six-horse fields at Del Mar. If you'd have said Hollywood Park I'd have readily agreed.

And I still don't get why everyone is all over Trevor. Aside from a couple of goofs I think he did a pretty good job overall.

I wasn't very impressed with his call when they left the starting gate either. :eek:

"There's the roar from the Churchill Downs croud as the Breeders Cup Classic field set on their way..."

Nah...

They are all over him because they are biased New Yorkers. Didn't you know if people from New York aren't doing it, then it is no good? LOL.

Maybe their guy could call it if they actually had the races at Belmont. Oh, they can't because NYRA is bankrupt. Electricity might go out. LOL.

I thought Trevor was great. Especially when my selection Invasor won. :)

Well, that makes two of us....I didn't think Bernardini woul lose either :D :D

Seriously, if this is true about Trevor it would disappoint me...I don't respect any announcer who preconcieves sayings and such on races that haven't run yet....I don't mind him handicapping and thinking Bernie is going to kick on, but when you realize he is not then you have to call the race fairly andf like you never thought of the outcome beforehand..

Hell, I knew Bernardini was beat when I saw Javier have to scrub on him pretty good going into the far turn because I know the horse well enough to understand that he had never had to be asked that hard to move to the lead in the past - and that he was not going to run his race Saturday.....Trevor should have realized that too....

I always hate the premeditated calls....tghey are easy to tell too because they are always cheesy and obvious.....

For example, the "Cowabunga Dude" call when Surf Cat won earlier this year was ridiculously lame IMO......

Go ahead, list the immortals. There are about 20 of them and Bernardini could have won by 20 and he wasn't going to be one. These writers that hype things lose touch with reality. Bernardini beat a bunch of garbage all year and then one win was going to make him an immortal. Great. Heck, Funny Cide has more of a claim than a horse like Bernardini. Atleast he raced in the Belmont and had a chance at a triple crown. Bernardini, "the immortal" couldn't even show up for the Belmont. Had to rest up for his battles with the great Ministers Bid, Bluegrass Cat, and that monster Wanderin Boy.

A mare like Ouija Board is an immortal, not some horse that raced a few times in one season.

Finally a post from you that makes some sense and doesn't go T.O on anybody!!

Well, I don't know about you but going into the Big Dance I know that all kinds of people crowned him the second coming of Secretariat, Seattle Slew, etc. Me? Notsomuch and I don't agree with that pre-Breeders' Cup assesment whatsoever. But LOTS of people dubbed him virtually immortal and predicted he'd be one of the all-time greats. Had he won, I have little doubt at how many people would be posting "Bernardini the Great" threads!

I think Haskin was simply playing on pre-Breeders' Cup public opinion, whether we agree or not. He's all over these boards, reading and soaking up what people think.

With all that's been said- good or bad about Denman or Durkin:

Durkin was made to call these big races. My biggest beef isn't the calls Danman missed. It's just that Durkin knows how to capture those moments better than any other race caller hands down. I'd be tempted to even let Vic Stauffer call the races over Denman. I think in the end, it's about accuracy in calling the race and balancing that with a good amount of enthusiasm. I don't think anyone captures that balance better than Durkin.

Maybe it's my years of learning to tune out Battaglia, but I really could care less who's announcing during a race, I am too busy trying to watch the dynamics of the race...I liked the ESPN telecast, but those blimp shots messed me up, you couldn't tell where they were on the course...I heard some didn't like seeing the post parade, that's another thing I don't really care about...

To me, the post parade is the most important thing...

I can tell a lot about how a horse is doing by looking at them in the post parade.

one of the best I know....hands down.