Props to Trevor...
 

I dont follow much SA racing, but the SA derby reminded me of how good Trevor Denman is when he is on his game. I know the BC was messed up, but the SA derby was well done. HE managed to spot probably every horse that was making a move at the top of the stretch and then he saw Tiago moving before he was even the picture. He is the best announcer I can recall at this aspect...

intresting, i thought he called Tiago a big late, he said at one point Tiago still 15 lenghts out of it, then his next mention of him he is saying here he comes.

I wish he'd go back to South Africa. His nasally tone makes me want to punch Steve Urkel in the neck.

He still hasn't seen Street Sense making his move in the BC Juvenile.

Isn't that the truth. Ten length winners often get their first call inside the sixteenth pole.

Don't really want to start a war about it, but give me Tom Durkin, John Dooley, Michael Wrona, Luke Kruytbosch, and a few others before Trevor.

NT

he blew the Tiago call until the 8th saying he was still 15 lengths out of it when he was making a huge move just past the 3/8ths pole....the final 8th though was entertaining and spot on.

I heard him say Tiago was 15 len. out and I still hadnt spotted him (looking at the network replay) then he called him and then I spotted him so I figured he must have just come into the picture. Could be I missed his move.

The BC was real bad though, he mangled more than one horse name. Missed the Fleet indian/Pine Island breakdowns, etc.

Kruytbosch I am not impressed him w/ from the little Ive heard. I was watching the 2001 or 2000 derby and I assume it's him on the network feed and he calls out the horse name AND position of every single horse. So that by the time he's called all 20 horses at the first call, the leaders have gone well past the 1/2. Dnt think he manged to call out the rest of the field again. Maybe it wasnt him, or maybe he's gotten better..?

He totally blew the Tiago call. . . I liked his BC Classic call though. . .

yeah, and tom dorkins travers call a few years ago was just absolutely brilliant.

i cant say i've ever heard trevor denman call a horse by the name of another horse in another race, or call a horse the winner of a race it didnt win.

You ever hear Durkin totally not mention the breakdown of a co-favorite in a BC race or not spot a 10-length winner of a BC race until the horse was cooling out in his stall?

Maybe he isn't used to more than 5 horses in a SA Derby Prep!!

Dooley is a solid performer without Trevor's flair

I watched it again he called it well. Yeah he said Tiago was 15 lengths back; did he ever mention any of the other horses in the back again in the race? No. He mentioned the only other horse that was not up front because he saw Tiago moving up between horses. So he had already spotted him on the turn. No mention of the other four or so horses the rest of the race.

He said he was 15 lengths back probably because that was what was on the paper he was handed or the telestrator or however they give him the beaten lengths.

SO they come down the stretch and Trevor is calling out the duel between KoRox and Liquidity and Sam P. He makes several calls in there as they trade places. Then just as the hole opens and Tiago is 2 or 3 lengths out, he says that Tiago is coming from nowhere, so he had him spotted and before he got the lead. What else can he do? try calling out 3 or 4 lead changes at the top of hte stretch and then Tiago, cant be done any sooner.

It was a very good call. The BC was a mess for sure.

The other day the Tampa caller totally missed the 11 horse dumping the jockey at the gate. What made it worse is that the 11 horse was the 4/5 fav. The caller didnt even call the horse once or let the people know the horse threw the jock. I like the man who calls River Downs and Keeneland. What I cant stand about Durkin is that everything is a photo finish. Heck, there is 3/4ths of a length between horses and he says "and it is a photo finish.".

do you really think they use a telestrator or cue cards?

Definitely not. The only time I've EVER heard him hesitate was at the end of the 2005 Derby, where I think he was just as shocked to see Giacomo there he called it "And... it's... GIACOMO!" like he was rechecking his notes to make sure it was the right horse. There's been many calls by Durkin which have made my spine tingle...

Denman is fine, but if you're going to replace the best racecaller in America on a big stage he's going to get critized for every error.

I'm not sure if that was a joke or what, but the REAL way they call the beaten lengths is looking at the rail... you will notice the bars are set precisely at 1 length apart. To the untrained eye it's very difficult to do but they can count the number of bars in a flash.

are you saying the race caller is actually doing the counting himself? doesnt he have help? I thought he had help, but I dont know. Thats why I worded it the way I did...

In any case, for some reason he choose to call Tiago out of the four or five other horses that were trailing the field; why does the beaten lengths matter at that pt? Look at the video yourself as they near the top of the stretch. I couldnt tell at that pt. that Tiago was moving up any more than the other, but then camera had just pulled back so...

Correct. There is also a person who does the chart calling, but that is separate from the race caller (and they may not even see it the same way.)

oh but sometimes dont they make the chart straight from the race call? Last year the KY derby chart was a mess, I went about fixing the BRIS chart which differed markedly from the DRF or whatever the other one is...As I recall the BRIS chart used beaten lengths just as they were called which led to problems with e.g.Jazil. Dunno if BRIS people just play back the tape or what. That chart was seriously out of whack as was the DRF chart perhaps to a lesser degree. One year they had to re draw the derby chart a few years back..I had assumed then that the race caller would look at some sort of notes that the chart caller was making..