In honor of Tom Durkin’s retirement from race calling on August 31, we are taking a look back at 40 of his most memorable calls–one for each day of the 2014 Saratoga meet.
Today is for the fillies at Saratoga, featuring the 142nd running of the Alabama Stakes for three year old fillies. Therefore, it is only appropriate for today’s 40 Days of Durkin to focus on the fillies. Tom Durkin never got to call a triple crown winner in the Belmont Stakes — that dream died as California Chrome faltered in the stretch this June — but he did get to call an event that is even rarer than a triple crown winner. A filly winning the Belmont Stakes.
At the beginning of 2007, there had only been two other fillies who had prevailed over the colts and geldings in the grueling one and a half mile Belmont Stakes. And those fillies won 1867 (Ruthless) and 1905 (Tanya), respectively. No easy feat. Rags to Riches came into the 2007 Belmont Stakes in the midst of a banner year, having won the Las Virgenes Stakes (GI), the Santa Anita Oaks (GI) and the Kentucky Oaks (GI), the latter over champion Dreaming of Anna. Her task in the Belmont was no easier. Although Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense would not be in the starting gate, she would have to tangle with Preakness winner and future two-time horse of the year Curlin as well as Hard Spun, who had finished second in the Kentucky Derby and third in the Preakness.
To make matters worse, Rags to Riches stumbled out of the gate, spotting the field several lengths. Rags to Riches, with Johnny V in the irons, made a beautiful move into the stretch and poked a head in front as she engaged Curlin in a stretch duel for the ages. I’ll let the master take it from there:
“Here comes Hard Spun. And Curlin is coming through in between horses! And Rags to Riches is coming with a four-wide sweep! And Tiago is in behind them. And at the top of the stretch, a filly is in front at the Belmont! But Curlin is right there with her! These two, in a battle of the sexes at the Belmont Stakes! It is Curlin on the inside – Rags to Riches on the outside. A desperate finish: Rags to Riches and Curlin! They’re coming down to the wire. It’s gonna be very close! And it’s gonna be…. a filly in the Belmont! Rags to Riches has beaten Curlin and a hundred years of Belmont history! The first filly to win it in over a century!”
It could be argued that Rags to Riches ushered in a golden age of fillies, to be followed by Zenyatta, Rachel Alexandra, Havre de Grace, Royal Delta, and perhaps now Untapable. But on that June day in 2007, she was simply the first filly to win the Belmont in 102 long years. Enjoy:
