Larry Collmus no longer NYRA announcer

[PaceAdvantage]

Originally Posted by FantasticDan

True, Collmus probably agreed to like $80K cuz of all that sweet extra glamour

80k is about as crazy a notion as getting what Durkin was getting in the end. So essentially, you're poking fun at yourself.

[FantasticDan]

OF COURSE $80K is a crazy notion, but at NYRA it ain't about the $$ brah, it's about the GLAMOUR..

Jeez.

[BMustang]

Somehow I missed the fact that Collmus had been replaced by Imbriale until I heard one of the TVG announcers refer to him as the "Voice of New York Racing."
Imbriale has certainly paid his dues, and his distinctive voice/style does set him apart and identifies with New York Racing. I'm happy for him.

Unlike most of you I do listen to race calls.

When a younger man I would make the trip to Chicago primarily to listen to Phil Georgeff, call them "spinning out of the turn." "John Henry, Like a Bullet", etc..

Tom Durkin is the reason that I drove from Kentucky to Saratoga in his final season just to feel like I was a part of it. To me Durkin will always be the quintessential classic race caller.

If I had had the opportunity I would have traveled to hear Trevor Denman. His race calls stick with you.

Present day I enjoy listening to Peter Berry, Michael Wrona, and Pete Aiello. I remember meeting Wrona when he was calling races at some bull ring race track in Paducah, Kentucky which has long since gone over the rainbow.

I am really happy for Pete Aiello. He was a grad of the Arizona University that specializes in the horse racing industry. He was a friend and student of the late Luke Kruytbosch, who I considered a top notch Midwestern race caller. If you knew Kruytbosch, you will here a lot of him in Aeillo's race calls.

Pete Aeillo is the "being in the right place at the right time" poster child. He fell into the job at Oaklawn, and again getting the Gulfstream gig via Hialeah (quarter horses). When Gulfstream needed an announcer, Pete was available and worked cheap. I'm sure he is having the time of his life. He got his start at my home track - River Downs - and would sit with us degenerates on dark days and play other tracks via simulcasts. Good Guy!!! It was Aiello who got the Gulfsteam job replacing Larry Collmus.

[Sparky13]

I thought Pete's voice at Gulfstream Park sounded familiar. I followed River Downs for years.

[Ocala Mike]

All discussion of track announcers needs context for me; after all, I go back to Fred Capossela. I can still hear his signature announcement. "It is now post time."

[46zilzal]

I despise the announcer who MUST get their "pet phrase" in the call no matter how much of the critical information they cannot transmit during that time..i.e. "...and DOWN the stretch they come"...or "Here they come spinning out of the turn.." During those times often, a critical change of order may have occurred but we must suffer through their "patented" malarkey.

Just call the race and leave that brouhaha out of it

[46zilzal]

Originally Posted by Ocala Mike

All discussion of track announcers needs context for me; after all, I go back to Fred Capossela. I can still hear his signature announcement. "It is now post time."

Good INFORMATIVE caller like Hernandez at Anita...

So many of these callers make it about THEM not the race...

[Tom]

Originally Posted by Ocala Mike View Post
All discussion of track announcers needs context for me; after all, I go back to Fred Capossela. I can still hear his signature announcement. "It is now post time."

Good thing he never worked for Gulfstream!

[castaway01]

Originally Posted by Tom

Good thing he never worked for Gulfstream!

Just change it to "It will eventually be post time." or "At some point between now and Tuesday, it will be post time."

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by 46zilzal

I despise the announcer who MUST get their "pet phrase" in the call no matter how much of the critical information they cannot transmit during that time..i.e. "...and DOWN the stretch they come"...or "Here they come spinning out of the turn.." During those times often, a critical change of order may have occurred but we must suffer through their "patented" malarkey.

Just call the race and leave that brouhaha out of it

FWIW I heard Dave Johnson long enough to tell you he only fit in "down the stretch they come" when he had time. When he didn't (e.g., Sunday Silence weaving through the Kentucky Derby stretch), he axed it.

[BMustang]

I too go back to Fred Capossela. He was probably the first race caller I ever heard. They used to have a "Race of the Week" TV show on every Saturday afternoon where I saw Affectionately, Roman Brother, Gun Bow, Kelso, and a host of other immortals run.

Cappy started his famous "It is now post time" preceded by "The horses are nearing the starting gate and the fans draw close to the rail, which means one thing" then - It is nooow Pooost Ttime He would always end his call and wrap up to a race call with "Fred Capossela, Rooftop Aqueduct."

He was a classic.

[cj]

Imbriale is just ok. I don't get the love. His calls aren't great, he gets lost, misses horses. He has a lot of odd pauses. He isn't terrible, don't get me wrong. He's average. But NYRA should have a better than average caller.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by cj

Imbriale is just ok. I don't get the love. His calls aren't great, he gets lost, misses horses. He has a lot of odd pauses. He isn't terrible, don't get me wrong. He's average. But NYRA should have a better than average caller.

Well they had one (indeed perhaps the best ever) in Collmus, and they decided it wasn't worth it to pay him.

[PaceAdvantage]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

Well they had one (indeed perhaps the best ever) in Collmus, and they decided it wasn't worth it to pay him.

It turned out to be a sound financial decision given what has happened these last few months...

[cj]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

It turned out to be a sound financial decision given what has happened these last few months...

That comes back to being able to measure how much, if any, the announcer helps the bottom line. It must be something or tracks wouldn't have one like Keeneland in the past. It is probably something impossible to quantify so we'll never really know the answer.