larry collmus | Horse Racing Free Tips

John Lies To Pinch Hit For Larry Collmus In Final Four Days Of Del Mar Season

John Lies, a seasoned race caller who has worked at Del Mar since 2007 in different capacities, will take over the mic for the final four days of the current summer season as Larry Collmus, who has been pinch-hitting since opening day for regular announcer Trevor Denman, heads off to Kentucky to prepare for his annual role with NBC as the race caller for the Kentucky Derby.

Lies (pronounced “Lees”) has called races at locations around the U.S., including 10-year stints at both Lone Star Park in Texas and Kentucky Downs, as well as at his current jobs at Will Rogers Downs and Fair Meadows Tulsa in Oklahoma.

Collmus, a nationally-known announcer who has worked at racing venues around the country and has been the voice of the Triple Crown since 2011, stepped up and in at Del Mar when Denman, Del Mar's caller since 1984, told the track he was going to stay home in Minnesota this summer in light of the COVID-19 situation. In his role as a “pinch hitter,” Collmus' professionalism and enthusiasm have shone through at the seaside oval since he took up the mic on July 10.

Collumus will call his final Del Mar card on Monday, August 31 and then head off for his assignment at the delayed Kentucky Derby scheduled for Saturday, September 5. Lies will call the four remaining programs of Del Mar's 81st summer season – September 4, 5, 6 and the Labor Day finale on September 7.

Lies, 43, was born in Long Beach, CA, but grew up mostly in the San Diego area. His father was a trainer and young John's racing interests found him imitating the calls of his hero, Denman, accent and all. When he met the South African caller at the age of 9 at Del Mar, a friendship was formed and his role as hero/mentor all but ensured that young Lies had found his calling.

Besides his full-time announcing jobs, Lies estimates he has guest announced at a dozen tracks nationally, including twice at Del Mar. Additionally, the savvy racetrack veteran has filled many different roles at various venues around the country. At Del Mar he's been its simulcast signal announcer since 2007, has worked in its racing office since 2013 and this year took over the job of morning line maker. At both Will Rogers Downs and Fair Meadows Tulsa he is the announcer, the racing secretary and the morning line maker.

Denman has told Del Mar officials that he plans on returning to his regular role at the track with the start of its fall season on October 31.

The post John Lies To Pinch Hit For Larry Collmus In Final Four Days Of Del Mar Season appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Spanish Race Caller Sues NYRA Over Wage Inequity Compared To White Counterpart

Race caller Luis Grandison filed a lawsuit against the New York Racing Association in the Brooklyn Federal Court on Tuesday, alleging that he was paid less than half as much as his white, English-speaking counterparts, reports the New York Daily News.

The suit states that Grandison was paid an annual salary of $60,000, while his white, English-speaking counterpart Larry Collmus has a salary estimated to be over $200,000.

Grandison, a black native of Panama, had been employed by NYRA to call races in Spanish since 2014. He requested and was denied a raise in 2018. This year, Grandison was furloughed in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. He was terminated in June, prior to the resumption of racing in the state of New York.

“Grandison has performed the exact same primary duty of race calling … at NYRA in Spanish that his white American counterparts performed in English in the same racetracks, under the same management, using the same oratory skills, and using the same NYRA simulcast network,” the suit reads. “The only difference between Grandison and, for example, Larry Collmus is that the former is a Black Latino speaking in Spanish whereas the latter is a white American speaking in English. Their primary work duty of race calling was otherwise identical.”

Beat Ray Every Day At Del Mar: And You Can Do It … For FREE!

With apologies to the late actor and horseplayer Mickey Rooney, I lost $20 on my first visit to Del Mar in 1979 and spent the next 41 years trying to win it back.

Maybe in appreciation of that dedication, along with the “taking one for the team” selfless attitude that has kept me coming back to the Southern California seaside track every year, my so-called friends at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club ~~hoodwinked~~ invited me to be the ~~sucker~~ centerpiece for an online contest that begins today and runs each day throughout the summer meet ending on Labor Day, Sept. 7.

Here's the deal.

It's free to play. Sign up here. Now. All you have to do is bet a mythical $100 each day on the selected contest race in win, place or show bets on any horse or horses. You can read the specific rules here.

If, at the end of the summer meet, you wind up with the highest bankroll of your accumulated bets, you'll win two VIP tickets to the 2021 Breeders' Cup at Del Mar. There are other prizes for top 10 finishers and anyone who has a higher bankroll than me at the end of the meet (dream on!) will be entered into a drawing for additional prizes.

Anyone who can beat me, given my decades of ~~losing~~ playing Del Mar, will own the deserved title of Beach Boss.

To make things more ~~humiliating for me~~ interesting, Del Mar is enlisting some celebrity handicappers to see if they have what it takes to out-handicap me. Every Saturday at 11 a.m. PT on Del Mar's social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube), I'll join television host Michelle Yu and and a guest handicapper for some friendly conversation and analysis of the day's contest race. First up this week is Larry Collmus, who is subbing for longtime track announcer Trevor Denman this summer. Thankfully, they've thrown me a patsy on this first week.

I'm going into this ~~petrified~~ brimming with confidence that all these years of experience are going to pay off. Bring it on!

The post Beat Ray Every Day At Del Mar: And You Can Do It … For FREE! appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Collmus to ‘Pinch Hit’ at Del Mar This Summer

Larry Collmus, the voice of the Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup on NBC, will become the announcer at Del Mar this summer when he steps in on a “pinch hitting” assignment for the track’s regular caller, Trevor Denman. Stemming from health concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, Denman, who has been Del Mar’s announcer for 36 years, recently informed Del Mar officials that he and his wife, Robin, would remain at their Minnesota farm this summer.

“When Trevor told us of his situation, we naturally had to respect what he was feeling,” said Josh Rubinstein, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club’s president and COO. “We immediately worked up a short list of possible replacements and Larry was the man we zeroed in on. Happily, he said he was available and would be delighted to call our meet. We’re very pleased to be able to have him be the guy in our booth when we’re off and running on July 10.”

Collmus, 53, has manned the mic at various racetracks including Golden Gate Fields, all three NYRA tracks, Gulfstream Park, Churchill Downs and Monmouth Park. Prior to this summer’s stint, Collmus also called the Breeders’ Cup races at Del Mar in 2017.

Denman, who has called every race at Del Mar since taking over for the late Harry Henson in 1984, will return to the seaside track for its fall season scheduled from Oct. 31 to Nov. 29.

The post Collmus to ‘Pinch Hit’ at Del Mar This Summer appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post