2011 Kentucky Derby: Question & Answer with Race-Caller Larry Collmus

Last week, NBC announced that Larry Collmus would be the new voice of the Triple Crown races, replacing Tom Durkin who had called the Triple Crown races for NBC since 2001 and had been the race caller for the network since 1984.

Collmus, who has been calling races for over 25 years, is currently the announcer at Florida's Gulfstream Park in the winter and at New Jersey's Monmouth Park during the summer. His voice is one of the most recognized in the sport. Lucky for us, Larry was able to take a few minutes to answer a couple of questions.

Here's a little insight into the man who will decipher the action on Saturday:

1. How did you become interested in race-calling and how did you break into it? 

Growing up in Maryland, my father installed and operated the sound system at Timonium. I went there to work for him but was more interested in racing. I got to know the announcer there and the press guys. I started doing impressions of announcers and someone suggested I do it for real. I got a tape recorder and binoculars and started practicing at the Maryland tracks. The GM of Pimlico, Chick Lang, heard me one day and offered me the job of assistant announcer. That was 1985 and I called my first race at Bowie.

2. What announcers did you grow up idolizing or emulating? 

I think in the early years my biggest influence was Dave Johnson. Over the years, I think you take a little from everybody, even if it's not on purpose. Tom Durkin and Trevor Denman certainly being the two most recognizable. You hear so many races from them, that it's hard not to have some of that influence your own calls. 

3. Take us up into the booth. I know every announcer has his or her own routine. What do you do to prepare to call a race? And does this routine differ when you are calling a big race? 

On a regular basis the routine is very simple. Look at all the names at the beginning of the day to make sure you can pronounce them. Then start memorizing horses by their jockey colors once they come on to the track. Yes bigger races are different for me. It would be a total lie if I told you I prepared the same for the 4th on Thursday as I do for a Graded stakes race. 

As for the Kentucky Derby, I have been studying silks and watching replays of prep races and past Derbies already. The 20 expected starters are already in my head. 

4. Over your career, you've called many big races, such champions as Lost Code, Holy Bull, Cigar, Big Brown, Rachel Alexandra, and of course Zenyatta. Yet for the average folk, you are best known as the guy who called the Wives. Has that call changed your life significantly, and if yes, how so? 

I still can't believe the shelf life of that race. When someone introduces me to someone else, they say he's the guy who called the Wives race. At first I would just shake my head, but now I just accept it. I don't really know whether that played a big role in NBC hiring me for the Triple Crown. If it did, then it did change my life. Otherwise, not really.

5. What race sticks out in your mind as your favorite call you've made? Is there any call you've made that you wish you could take back? And on that note, what race call by another commentator stands out as your absolute favorite? 

I guess if I could pick any race, it would be Rachel Alexandra's Haskell. It was a great race, a great field, and I was able to call the way I wanted. Rachel's Lady Secret Stakes, I had a little flub in mid-stretch, I'd like that one back. And also I wish earlier in my career that my voice was as strong as it is now, and could have sounded better calling Holy Bull, Cigar, Skip Away etc. 

My favorite call of all time is Durkin's call of the 1994 Travers. Absolutely brilliant and spine tingling. I loved Holy Bull, and that call "what a hero" at the end summed it up. Oh, and of course, "there is cause for Concern" Who comes up with stuff that good?

6. If you could call any race in the world that you've never called and won't have called by the end of this year, what race would that be and why? 

I would say the BC Classic. I'd also have to say the Arc de Triomphe. I've been once and it was an amazing experience.

7. You've been the back-up announcer for the Breeders' Cup since it switched over to ESPN from NBC, which has given you the opportunity to call undercard races in front of 70,000 fans on one of the sport's biggest days. You've also called numerous races on national television over your career. But this is the Kentucky Derby! What went through your mind when you got the call (or whatever it was you got) from NBC asking you to take over for Tom Durkin? 

It was a call and I thought someone was playing a prank on me. I had no clue Tom was looking to step down. When I realized it was real I was incredibly excited. I mean, if you call races for a living in this country, it's what you dream of doing.

8. Tom Durkin is one of the legends of the business, and next to Dave Johnson and Peter O'Sullevan, has probably called more big races around the world than almost anyone. Yet still, he decided to retire from NBC due to the stress of calling the Derby. Did he give you any words of advice that you are willing to share? 

I talked briefly to Tom about it, but we plan on speaking at length this week. I appreciate that he's willing to share his thoughts on the experience.

9. Let's talk about the Derby for a second. How do you see the race breaking down? 

I think Uncle Mo is the one to beat if he's the Uncle Mo before the Wood. It sounds like he's doing well. I could see him with a decent lead turning for home. You have to keep an eye out for Dialed In's late run of course. I don't want to have too much of an expectation on who's where though, I'd rather have it play out and call it.