They're Kidding!!

[P-Dub]

alm Wrote:
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> Just let it be decided by one vote from Trevor
> Denman...he\'s impartial.  (He also calls horses\'
> asses like a horse\'s ass.)


Right Alm, unlike Ton Durkin. He\'s always impartial. It was very obvious he didn\'t care that Easy Goer couldn\'t run down Sunday Silence, or that he didn\'t care that \"Tiznow wins it for America\".

Let the hating on anything west coast continue. It\'s pretty amusing.

[alm]

Some response...did I mention Tom Durkin?  I don\'t think so.

As corny as Durkin can be, however, I never heard him root a horse on, chanting down the lane:  Zenyatta, Zenyatta, Zenyatta!  Are you serious?  

I wouldn\'t trade one Mark Johnson for ten Denmans if I wanted an accurate call.

[Footlick]

I really thought we were done with this topic.  Nothing new is ever said.  Let\'s move on.

[richiebee]

phil23 Wrote:
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> Oh well, regardless
> of which of them wins, it still doesn\'t get fix
> the dead rail that screwed QR.

This dead rail becomes \"deader\" as time passes. We\'re talking Biblical proportions
and if people are still talking about racing in 10 years, the tale will be told
how any horse running within 4 paths of the rail on BC 2010 weekend was
mysteriously swallowed up by the Earth.

Horses coming out of the Breeders Cup races are now about 3 for 20 in their
subsequent starts. Non-steroidal Dutrow\'s 2 BC returnees, Believe in AP and Court
Vision, took a lot of money in their return races and were rather dull. Three of
the four BC runners who returned in the Cigar Mile were non factors, though
Haynesfield came tantalizingly close to winning the Cigar. Dakota Phone
also a non factor in his Polywood return this weekend.

Things looking up for NY Racing. The Racino people with their futuristic
architects renderings have big plans for the Big A where, by the way, they ran a
10K Claimer on the turf on Sunday (PG and MacK spinning in their graves). Rumor
has it that the Racino people want to build a private airstrip for the high
rollers, and between the airstrip and other alterations racing at AQ will be
conducted over a half- mile oval beginning in 2013. Of course by then the
Saratoga season will run from May 1 through October 30 so no one will much give a
damn.

... and OTB is proving harder to kill than Glenn Close in \"Fatal Attraction\"...

[P-Dub]

I mentioned him because he used to call the BC.

It\'s ok not to like Denman. Calling him inaccurate.......that statement is inaccurate. If that is \"rooting\" a horse home, I can find you 20 other racecallers that have done the same thing. The horse was 20+ lengths behind, makes a stirring stretch run, was the main attraction on the biggest race day of the year, and he\'s supposed to call it like it\'s the 5th on a Wednesday afternoon.

Whatever Alm. Enjoy Mark Johnson.

[alm]

Well, what can I say?  I lived in Southern Cal for 10 years, listened to Denman calls most of that time and often never knew what he was calling...he\'s very personal and idiosyncratic...rooting for Zenyatta was the most egregious call I heard him make and it stunk.  I\'m sorry, but it was uncalled for...she was beating a stack of pancakes at the moment he made the call.

As for Durkin, he was the most colorful racecaller in his prime.  He is past his prime and is very aggravating now.  The guy at Calder,whose name I cannot remember, may be superior to both...he\'s a comer.

Mark Johnson is the first racecaller I have heard since Fred Capposela who helps you know, during a race, where each horse is and what they are doing.  He is so incredibly accurate it is frustrating.  When is it frustrating?  When he calls a horse coming from out of it that nails the one you bet...he sees it coming from a sixteenth to an eighth of a mile before it happens.

I don\'t know about 20 other announcers...most of them are pretty silly...but those are my impressions of the ones to whom I have been most exposed.

[Flighted Iron]

Horses coming out of the Breeders Cup races are now about 3 for 20 in their
subsequent starts.

Are you referring to horses who ran on the dead rail that are 3 for 20?

[Footlick]

Dead rail does not explain Quality Road\'s performance.  Sorry

[miff]

\"Dead rail does not explain Quality Road\'s performance. Sorry\'

Foot,

Agree, but a contributing factor for sure.You may be surprised how much a bad path/superior path can affect the performance of a horse.

Mike

[bellsbendboy]

QR displaced.

[TGJB]

Footlick-- you know this how? At least you said you\'re sorry, though.

By my count 4 horses coming off the dead rail have already won back, including $17 and $35 winners. There may be others that have shown up at other tracks, I wasn\'t watching all of them.

[TGJB]

Pdub-- You had to go back 20 years to find one? Seriously?

[P-Dub]

Everybody is entitled to their opinion JB.  Alm doesn\'t care for Denman and thats fine.

It was 20 years ago yes, but you don\'t think Durkin was wanted EG to get up?? Tiznow earlier this decade.... if you were a European race fan, you wouldn\'t think that call wasn\'t a bit biased??

I don\'t care if someone doesn\'t care for his calls, but lets leave the hyperbole out of it. Alm was a bit dramatic with the characterizations of Denman. I\'m sure Denman wanted her to win; however, with millions of casual fans tuning in specifically because of Zenyatta it wasn\'t particularly egregious to give a race description focusing on her. It was a pretty dramatic run she put in considering how far back she was.

I\'ll drop it. Thought the criticism was a bit over the top.  Kinda like a certain joc.....aw never mind.

[TGJB]

And by the way, I\'m thinking the EG Belmont call was Marshall Cassidy, no?

[richiebee]

I think Alm is taking the role of the race caller much too seriously. I mean if
you need Durkin or Denman or Harry Henson or Marshall Cassidy to tell you where
your horse is, or whether you have a chance to win, you may need another hobby.

The race caller needs to be neutral? Like a judge? Like a referee? I thought that
was what the stewards were all about. Denman has admitted that Zen is the best
he\'s ever seen. Should he recuse himself from calling her races?

Should Vic Stauffer (sp?) have been allowed to call races in which a rider he
worked as agent for had a mount? Not neutral? Cause for recusal?

So what if Marshall Cassidy liked Easy Goer? Did I mind that MC was booting for
him at the same time I was trying to beat him? Not a bit. Do you think Marshall\'s
calls somehow helped the colt in his victories or somehow affected the outcome?

And if you think Durkin went over the top calling Alysheba and Tiznow, how do you
think it sounds when he\'s yelling at the top of his lungs in the stretch drive
of a 7500 Claiming race?