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 we look at the 1994 Breeders Cup Classic, won by Concern. In his call, Tom Durkin displays his incomparable skills as a race caller, by identifying Concern’s winning run that began before the half mile pole.
Concern, who placed in the Preakness and Travers earlier that year, was known as a deep closer. In the Classic, he started a sustained run on the backstretch and gained momentum all the way along the far turn. In the stretch he passed Derby winner Go for Gin and battles with Preakness winnerTabasco Cat to the wire in a dramatic last to first victory.
Concern’s run could easily been lost by a less than expert race caller, but Durkin proved his excellence once again. The call at the line, “Concern from out of the clouds” adds a memorable line to a long list of Durkin favorites.
