racetrack announcer | Horse Racing Free Tips

Trevor Denman Wins Pincay Award

Popular track announcer Trevor Denman, who came to Del Mar in 1984 and has been the track's voice ever since, has been named the 19th recipient of the Laffit Pincay, Jr. Award. The native of South Africa will be honored at the shore track Saturday, Aug. 19.

The Pincay Award, named for, and presented by, the Hall of Fame rider, goes to those who have served the sport of racing “with integrity, extraordinary dedication, determination and distinction.”

“Trevor is my favorite announcer,” said Pincay, Jr. “He called many of the races I rode and when I was winning a big stakes race, it was always good to hear his exciting call in the stretch.”

The post Trevor Denman Wins Pincay Award appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Collmus Named Handleman Award Winner

Race caller and TVG analyst Larry Collmus, whose distinguished career includes a 20-year stint as Monmouth Park's track announcer, has been named the winner of the 2023 Bill Handleman Award for outstanding coverage of last year's GI TVG.com Haskell S.

First presented in 2012, the Handleman Award honors the late Bill Handleman, one of New Jersey's top sportswriters for nearly three decades for the Asbury Park Press. Handleman, a fixture at Monmouth Park and a passionate chronicler of the sport, died in June of 2010 at the age of 62.

Collmus, 56, has served as the announcer for NBC Sports' coverage of the Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup since 2011 and is currently the on-site host for TVG (Fan Duel) during live racing days at Monmouth Park.

“For all of the national acclaim Larry Collmus has received for his outstanding career, he remains closely associated with Monmouth Park and the Haskell S.,” said Dennis Drazin, Chairman and CEO of Darby Development LLC, the operators of Monmouth Park. “We're pleased to honor him with the Handleman Award for his work last year and throughout the years on Haskell day.”

Collmus, who started his career as the track announcer at Bowie in Maryland in 1985 at the age of 18, has served as the race caller at Birmingham Turf Club, Golden Gate, Suffolk Downs, Monmouth Park, Churchill Downs, for NYRA tracks and at Del Mar. He was Monmouth Park's race caller from 1994-2014.

His call for NBC Sports of this year's Haskell will be his 23rd for Monmouth Park's most prestigious race–and first since Triple Crown winner American Pharoah won the race in 2015.

The post Collmus Named Handleman Award Winner appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Griffin Named New Parx Announcer

Chris Griffin has been named as the new voice of Parx Racing. Following the retirement of announcer Keith Jones in December, Parx launched an extensive search for their next track announcer.

“Keith was here for 34 years,” said Joe Wilson, Chief Operating Officer for Parx Racing. “This was a new process for all of us. Chris is a rising star in our industry with a tremendous work ethic. We are thrilled to welcome him to the Parx family.”

Griffin added, “This is my opportunity to enter a booth that saw a legend like Keith Jones call for so many years. I am grateful to the management at Parx for this incredible opportunity. Being able to call two million-dollar races as well as several other graded races is very exciting.”

A native of Santa Monica, California, Griffin got his start as an announcer for the National Hot Rod Association. After four years of traveling the country, Chris expanded his travels internationally as the full time announcer for the Harlem Globetrotters. While at a tour stop in Little Rock, Arkansas, Griffin's talent captured the attention of veteran race caller Frank Mirahmadi, who was calling the races at Oaklawn Park. Mirahmadi mentored Griffin and helped secure him his first full time racing job at the Humboldt County Fair in Ferndale in 2015. He ended up calling races at the various California fair meets, Portland Meadows, Los Alamitos and Gulfstream Park West. In the fall of 2018 Griffin was named the track announcer at Sam Houston while pulling double duty as Marketing Manager.

Parx Racing runs Monday through Wednesday first with first post at 12:55pm.

The post Griffin Named New Parx Announcer appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post