Tom Durkin's call.

[Travis Stone]

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.