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.

Tom Durkin’s storied career is drawing closer to the wire.  While we have some absolute classic races remaining in our 40 Days series, which we will cover over the weekend, today we look back at a not-so-classic race won by a great racehorse.  But the point of today’s post is to highlight one of the things that made Tom Durkin so great.

Tom Durkin always realized that he was not the show, the story or the attraction for patrons attending the races.  He was there to add to and describe the experience, which he did better than anyone ever has, but it was not about him.  A shining example is found on a Belmont day when Commentator faced an overmatched group of foes, and ran them all off their feet.  After a characteristically perfect Durkin call down to the sixteenth pole, Durkin left the rest to Commentator.  “Just take a look at this horse move!  No need to call it.”

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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.

Have you seen the pirate movie?

It’s rated ARRRRRGGGGHHH!  What does that lame joke have to do with Tom Durkin?  Well, on August 16, 2008 at Saratoga, their happened to be a horse entered named Arrrgh.  One of the best things about Tom Durkin is that he can make any race excited, no matter the level, class or competition.  Also, he is always ready, willing and able to take advantage of a unique or funny horse name to spice up what would otherwise be (for him) a mundane call.

That was exactly the situation Tom Durkin faced when Arrrgh was entered.  And, as you can see below, he had fun with it.  Today we look back at a not-so-classic race that yielded and absolutely classic call from Tom Durkin.

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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.

Happy Travers Day everyone!  Its the biggest day of the Saratoga meet, and Tom Durkin generally brings his fastball for the big race.  Today’s 40 Days looks back on one of the most dramatic renewals of the Travers in the race’s 145 year history.

The 1998 Travers featured Victory Gallop, the 1998 Belmont winner and spoiler of Real Quiet’s Triple Crown bid, Coronado’s Quest and longshot Raffie’s Majesty.  Coronado’s Quest came into the race off four straight graded stakes scores, including the Dwyer and the Haskell Invitational.  He was known for his difficult temperament, which had earned him the nickname “The Bad Boy of Racing.”  Coronado’s Quest’s sire, Forty Niner, had also been a Travers winner, prevailing over Seeking the Gold and Brian’s Time in a close three-way finish in 1988.  Raffie’s Majesty was an outsider in the race, having been beaten by others in the race in both the Belmont and the Jim Dandy.   He would relish his role as spoiler, however, and would nearly get the job done.

The race, which was won by Coronado’s Quest in a three-way photo finish by the slimmest of margins, would feature some of Tom Durkin’s best work.  His call was pitch-perfect, as usual, rising in a crescendo as Victory Gallop summoned one more bid and Raffie’s Majesty closed from far back  on the outside.  The call culminated with an iconic Durkin call:  “Coronado’s Quest, Victory Gallop, and Raffie’s Majesty, three noses on the line in a dramatic renewal of the Travers!”

Enjoy this edition of 40 Days of Durkin and, most of all, enjoy your Travers Day.

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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.

On the morning of November 5, 1988, Personal Ensign had started 12 times, and hit the wire first every single time.  That afternoon would bring the greatest test of her life, however.  She was due to face the Derby winner, Winning Colors, on a sloppy track in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.  In a race for the ages, Personal Ensign would show just why she was one of the greatest champions the sport has seen.  She would retire with 13 wins in 13 starts — but she would need every inch of the 1 1/8 miles in order to get it done.

Tom Durkin’s call was characteristically spectacular.  From his prerace monologue, in which he set the stage for the clash between these two great fillies, to his closing exclamation that “in those final 110 courageous yards she certainly proved herself a champion this afternoon,” his call matched the high drama of the confrontation.

The feature race at Saratoga today, the Personal Ensign Handicap (GI), also features an epic clash between Close Hatches and Princess of Sylmar.  The race promises to be a fitting tribute to its namesake, who retired undefeated but, as the video below shows, not unchallenged.

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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.

The focus is on the lawn at Saratoga today with the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Invitational on the docket.  In contrast to the Alabama, Travers, Hopeful, Saratoga Special and other dirt stakes, the turf stakes at Saratoga have relatively recent origins (some, like the Diana, began as dirt stakes and were moved to the turf).  The oldest turf stake currently run at Saratoga is the Bernard Baruch, which was first run in 1959.  That doesn’t mean that Saratoga hasn’t seen more than its fair share of top caliber turf racing, however.  And nothing adds as much to a top rate showdown between a champion and a two-time Breeders’ Cup winner as a Tom Durkin call.

By the time they knocked heads in the 1994 edition of the Bernard Baruch, Lure and Paradise Creek had already met six times.  Lure had won the first four meetings and Paradise Creek had won the two most recent ones.  The Bernard Baruch would be their seventh and final confrontation, with Lure going off as the even money favorite, and Paradise Creek right behind him at 1.1-1.  For good measure, the field also included Saratoga fan favorite Fourstardave, who would give his backers a thrill on the front end before begrudgingly giving way to the main event – a stretch drive between Lure and Paradise Creek.

As usual, Tom Durkin’s call is spot on, reaching a crescendo in deep stretch as he describes “Mike Smith asking [Lure] for everything he has, and he’s GIVING IT TO HIM!”   Lure would gamely hold off Paradise Creek to close the rivalry with a 5-2 record against his archrival.  Watchers of the race can tell just how important this race was to the participants by watching Mike Smith’s reaction as he crosses the wire.  Standing straight up in the saddle, Smith gives the “salute of victory” to the Saratoga crowd.

Today’s 40 Days celebrates a great race, with three great horses, a great ride by a Hall of Fame jockey, and most importantly, a great call by the best in the business:

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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:

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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.

As we draw nearer to this year’s edition of the Travers Stakes, the signature race day of the Saratoga meet, today’s 40 Days of Durkin focuses on a particularly exciting renewal of the Travers.  The 1997 race featured, among others, Deputy Commander, Behrens and Awesome Again.  The race really shifts into high gear down the stretch drive, as Tom Durkin describes Chris McCarron imploring Deputy Commander to hold on through the final furlong as Behrens, under Jerry Bailey, bears down to the wire.  It is an epic battle to the finish which Deputy Commander ends up winning — by a nostril.

The reason I decided to include this race in the 40 Days of Durkin series is because it highlights Durkin’s uncanny ability to call the winner of an impossibly close race in real time.  As Deputy Commander and Behrens fight stride for stride down to the wire, Durkin’s voice rising in intensity as the race reaches its climax, Durkin calls Deputy Commander as the winner as the horses cross the line.  Its a nose-bob finish but, as usual, Durkin nailed it.  The 1997 Travers is just one (particularly high profile) example – there are innumerable examples of Durkin calling such close races without the benefit of the replay or the finish photo.  This is both amazing and an example of Durkin’s talent as a race caller.  It also serves to make it all the more poignant when Durkin announces that a race is indeed so close that it is “too close to call!”

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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.

Tiznow is one of my favorite horses of all time.  While everyone, myself included, enjoys and appreciates sheer dominance like Secretariat’s win in the Belmont, its equally fun amazing to see a horse that simply refuses to lose and shows heart, grit and determination.  Tiznow is the epitome of heart.

Tiznow of course won two consecutive Breeders’ Cup Classics in 2000 and 2001.  Both featured star-studded fields and epic stretch drives that culminate in narrow victories by Tiznow over a European invader.  Most importantly for this series, both races are described in chill-inducing fashion by Tom Durkin as Tiznow puts away his rivals and battles his foes from across the Atlantic right down to the wire.

Personally, I do not think these two races can be separated.  Tiznow’s two Breeders’ Cup races are just inspiring performances made by a gritty horse who simply refuses to lose.   Undoubtedly, the races would not hold nearly as dear a place in my memory if it were not for Tom Durkin’s calls.  Even re-watching the stretch drive in 2000 leaves you breathless:  “Tiznow tough as nails.  Giants Causeway on the outside.  Giants Causeway and Tiznow battling head to head!  A heart pounding, pulsating stretch drive!  And Tiznow prevails!  The 2001 renewal, of course, is one of Durkin’s most famous calls.  As Tiznow repels one last challenge from Sahkee, the Arc winner, Durkin exclaims “Tiznow wins its for America!”  Its just fantastic.  So this Friday we have a bonus two race 40 Days of Durkin.  I encourage you to take 5 minutes and re-watch both races and both calls.   Tom Durkin is the best.

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This is the first in a two-part series aimed at evaluating the NYRA customer experience.  This has been a major thrust of the NYRA business plan, and you can hardly find an interview with NYRA President and CEO Christopher Kay in which he fails to mention improving customer experience.  Additionally, in May, NYRA hired Lynn LaRocca to join the senior management team as “Chief Experience Officer,” responsible for “all aspects of the relationship between NYRA and its guests, both current and future.”  (See May 27, 2014 NYRA press release, available at http://www.nyra.com/belmont/larocca-lambert-join-nyra-senior-management-team/).  Mr. Kay has made the guest experience a primary focus of his tenure as President, and Ms. LaRocca has now had several months on the job.  As (very) frequent guests of NYRA, both at the track and over the internet, the Thorobros have tried to critically examine the current guest experience and evaluate how the NYRA team is doing.

Continue reading Grading the NYRA Experience (Part 1 – Off-Track Customers) →

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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.

In the summer of 1999, a major showdown loomed between two of the best older horses in the country.  Behrens was the winner of the Gulfstream Park Handicap, the Oaklawn Handicap, the Suburban and the MassCap (defeating Real Quiet).  Meanwhile, Victory Gallop had one an allowance race at Gulfstream Park, traveled to Dubai and placed third in the Dubai World Cup, then won the Stephen Foster Handicap by open lengths, posting a Beyer speed figure of 118 in the process.

That set the stage for an epic showdown between the four year old Victory Gallop and the five year old Behrens in the 1999 Whitney Handicap.  The showdown with Behrens promised to be just the opening salvo in what would become racing’s premier rivalry.   The showdown did not disappoint.  Behrens made a sustained move for the lead around the far turn, going five wide to get in front as the field hit the top of the lane.  Meanwhile, Victory Gallop was making his patented breathtaking surge from the back of the pack and by the sixteenth pole, he was at Behrens’ throat latch.  Victory Gallop put a nose in front, Behrens fought back, and they battled one another right to the wire in a thrilling renewal of the Whitney Stakes.  To this day, it remains this Thorobro’s favorite race.  Unfortunately, it would be Victory Gallop’s swan song, as he came out of the race with a torn suspensory and was retired.

The race wouldn’t have nearly the same place in my memory, however, were it not for Tom Durkin’s call.  As usual, the set up, the description and the culmination of the epic battle between two great thoroughbreds was perfectly stated, ending with Tom Durkin’s exclamation “What a thriller!”

Enjoy one of the great races in Saratoga history in today’s installment of “40 Days of Durkin” [also, it does not appear that there is a better version of the video of this race on YouTube -- there should be]:

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