Tom Durkin calling harness races.

[Casino]

Does anyone on this forum have videos from the days in which Durkin was the race caller at the BIG M?If so i would love to hear some Durkin has come a long way from his harness days!

[DeanT]

Be3LINwcsUc

[Casino]

Be3LINwcsUc

Thanks!:ThmbUp:

[Phantombridgejumpe]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOa9JY-ic9w

[lamboguy]

what a race! its as exciting as it gets.

people want to see more of this, they are sick of horses getting distanced in most races.

[MickJ26]

Awesome, a pair of legends.

[The_Knight_Sky]

Awesome, a pair of legends.


Nihilator was the first superstar horse I witnessed in person.
He was so talented you had to feel sorry for the rivals who
valiantly kept trying to beat him.

Not to be forgotten is Driver Bill O'Donnell who is the third legend in this story.

The good old days of Meadowlands Harness racing.
If one could only capture the electricity of a Saturday night of 20,000 fans
and bottle it.... :ThmbUp:

[Phantombridgejumpe]

Green Speed (Not at the Big M)

Rambling Willie (Saw him run in the Rambling Willie Pace, and won by a nose)

Abercrombie (I saw him tie the world record with a 1:53 at the Big M, something a time they do multiple times every Saturday night now)

Niatross

Cam Fella

Niahlator

Sonsam (although I liked Hot Hitter, Sonsam was better)

Mack Lobell

Beatcha and Genghis Khan (They belong together on this list)

Ideal du Gazeau

I watched a $2M harness race, a bunch of Meadowlands Paces, Woodrow Wilsons and Hambos. And what Knight Sky says about 20,000 is accurate, heck that was routine for a normal Saturday night.

As a kid I went to the Big M often, along with Freehold, Yonkers, Roosevelt, Liberty Bell, Monticello and Garden State.

See if you like the trip the winner gets here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSzhYjMV0Ks&feature=related

[The_Knight_Sky]

See if you like the trip the winner gets here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSzhYjMV0Ks&feature=related




That was when I had just graduated high school, so I missed out.

But that trotter took in a heck of a lot of air.
Tons the Best in that race. True grit on display without going off-stride.

[Phantombridgejumpe]

The foreign trotters would come over here and get these brutal trips (at least I thought they were brutal) but just keep going.

PS: I was still in High School, that didn't stop me!

[alhattab]

Green Speed (Not at the Big M)

Rambling Willie (Saw him run in the Rambling Willie Pace, and won by a nose)

Abercrombie (I saw him tie the world record with a 1:53 at the Big M, something a time they do multiple times every Saturday night now)

Niatross

Cam Fella

Niahlator

Sonsam (although I liked Hot Hitter, Sonsam was better)

Mack Lobell

Beatcha and Genghis Khan (They belong together on this list)

Ideal du Gazeau

I watched a $2M harness race, a bunch of Meadowlands Paces, Woodrow Wilsons and Hambos. And what Knight Sky says about 20,000 is accurate, heck that was routine for a normal Saturday night.

As a kid I went to the Big M often, along with Freehold, Yonkers, Roosevelt, Liberty Bell, Monticello and Garden State.

See if you like the trip the winner gets here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSzhYjMV0Ks&feature=related
1981 or 1982 (?) World Cup Final (I was in 7th Grade I think):

"It's Beatcha in front, and here comes his foe, Genghis Khan on the outside! Three quarters in 1:25 flat, and there at the top of the stretch (after about an eighth of a mile).....and Beatcha's gone offstride! He's gone offstride and Genghis Khan wins it just missing the track record by a fifth of a second final time 1:53 and 1!"

or

"Half time in a slow 58:1 over this dead track. Now It's Fritz is out of the pocket, and moves to confront his foe as they race around the far turn. Here's the battle we've been waiting for! It's Fritz on the outside, Cam Fella on the rail as they match strides around the far turn. It's Fritz, puts his head in front with 3/8ths to go. Cam Fella is back in second. Gap of 5, Happy Bibby (?) runs third...Three quarters in (I think) 1:25:4..." as it turned out, It's Fritz had a 2+ length lead in midstretch, but shortened stride then "Cam Fella's coming back! Cam Fella's coming back and he's going to win it". I think this was 1984. They ended up running this on a Monday night for some reason. I did above from memory, then found this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcOSEJG73qM&feature=player_detailpage

and this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE8ZRvut5G4&feature=player_detailpage

[Phantombridgejumpe]

They gave out buttons, for some odd reason I still remember that, wish I had the button.

I don't know exactly what the off odds were, but with a minute or two to post they were both 3-5 (and as you can see it wasn't a match race, heck the exacta didn't even come in). I said before somewhere on these boards that when I saw both horses could be 3-5 I first started to have some understanding of takeout.