Tom Durkin's call.

[johnny pinwheel]

Originally Posted by randallscott35

Look he's done a lot of great calls in his life. This was not one of them. It happens.

you are right, thats a tough job. why is everyone complaining? heres something novel , watch the race yourself. i hardly ever listen to the call anyway. and if you can't tell, what makes you think the announcer can? complaining about the call is sour grapes, unless you are just listening. i follow the silks all the way around. could care less what the guy is saying anyway, boo-hoo he missed a horse. should we have a re-do? how does this matter? did a different horse really win or something?

[Linny]

Good comments Travis. It wasn't Tom's best but clearly he was not only surprised that someone shot the rail (though with Calvin in the race...) but was shocked as all of us to find who it was. I'm sure (as someone who speaks often in public) that his "Spectacular, spectacular" coments were cover as he was double checking who it really was.
When you speak in public often without a teleprompter, or script, you develop certain phrases that become rote. When you are caught for something to say or while you are checking your notes you fall back on these phrases to "cover" the silence. Your mind knows them so well that you can utter them thoughtlessly while thinking about something else. (Anyone who has taken a long drive in a car with a chatty child has done this many times.) I'm sure that while he was saying these "mindless" words, Tom was double checking that yes indeed that was a 50-1 shot that had just blasted by the entire field in the KY Derby.

[slotdirt]

I can't completely blame Durkin for missing Mine that Bird on the backstretch instead thinking Mr. Hot Stuff was last of all - did y'all see how far behind the winner was after the first half?

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

I can't completely blame Durkin for missing Mine that Bird on the backstretch instead thinking Mr. Hot Stuff was last of all - did y'all see how far behind the winner was after the first half?

For the record, this isn't the first time he's completely missed a move like that. Pleasant Home's move in the Distaff, up the rail and then 3 wide to in front he missed until she was in front. But I couldn't hear his call from the rail so I was just happy to see the saddlenumber since the idiots at the BC can't allow colors.

[eajinabi]

They should do what del mar and Kenneland does and put transmitters on the horses to determine the positions of the horses.

I said to Tina right after they crossed the wire. "OMG the way that race unfolded I could really have botched the call badly"

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

I said to Tina right after they crossed the wire. "OMG they way that race unfolded I could really have botched the call badly"

Exactly, vic have you ever called a race with 19 horses.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by eajinabi

They should do what del mar and Kenneland does and put transmitters on the horses to determine the positions of the horses.

I agree, Trakus would be great for the Derby.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by randallscott35

For the record, this isn't the first time he's completely missed a move like that. Pleasant Home's move in the Distaff, up the rail and then 3 wide to in front he missed until she was in front. But I couldn't hear his call from the rail so I was just happy to see the saddlenumber since the idiots at the BC can't allow colors.

Similar scenario. 30-1 shot wins by 10, if you were him wouldn't you pause to make sure you had the right horse? Pleasant Home at least had the recognizable Phipps silks, but same idea.

Like I said before from what I've read and heard from him, he handicaps every race and has expectations of where to look for certain horses. When a seemingly impossible horse makes a huge move on the inside and shoots through for a convincing win, he probably wanted to make absolutely certain he had the right one (especially given the angle they come at there, you can't see the saddletowels to in fact confirm it was the #8.) Everybody in our group had the same reaction. "Who the f*ck was that?" At first I thought it was Fresian Fire, because at least that would make sense. Then it dawned on everyone that only Borel would make that move up the rail- and I'll be damned, it was.

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by philcski

Similar scenario. 30-1 shot wins by 10, if you were him wouldn't you pause to make sure you had the right horse? Pleasant Home at least had the recognizable Phipps silks, but same idea.

Like I said before from what I've read and heard from him, he handicaps every race and has expectations of where to look for certain horses. When a seemingly impossible horse makes a huge move on the inside and shoots through for a convincing win, he probably wanted to make absolutely certain he had the right one (especially given the angle they come at there, you can't see the saddletowels to in fact confirm it was the #8.) Everybody in our group had the same reaction. "Who the f*ck was that?" At first I thought it was Fresian Fire, because at least that would make sense. Then it dawned on everyone that only Borel would make that move up the rail- and I'll be damned, it was.

Even when I realized it was Borel I still had no clue what horse it was.

[Antitrust32]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

Even when I realized it was Borel I still had no clue what horse it was.

agreed.. first I said... "what just happened"... after that it was "What NUMBER is that" then "its the 8?? Who the fucl< is the 8??" after going to my DRF "Who the fucl< is Mine that Bird?"