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Tom Durkin Returns to Call the Belmont Stakes on Fox

Tom Durkin will return to the announcers booth to call the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets on Saturday, June 10, according to a press release from FOX Sports.

In addition to calling the Belmont Stakes, Durkin will announce all races aired during the network's Belmont Stakes Day coverage on FOX–scheduled for 4:00-7:30 p.m. Eastern. FOX Sports presents the Belmont Stakes for the first time in 2023 as part of the agreement establishing the network as the home of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival through 2030.

“This is yet another example of FOX' commitment to producing a dynamic broadcast of the Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets,” said NYRA Chief Revenue Officer Tony Allevato. “Tom Durkin's calls are synonymous with the very biggest moments in the sport, and his return to the announcer's booth will be a thrill for sports fans around the country.”

One of the most respected announcers in the sport, Durkin called some 80,000 races during his storied 43-year career, the last 24 years of which he spent as the NYRA announcer before his retirement in 2014.

“The Belmont Stakes has been an iconic part of sports culture for more than 150 years, “said Durkin. “There is nothing like the energy and enthusiasm around Belmont Park with a Triple Crown on the line. It is the apotheosis of excitement.”

“We are honored to have the legendary Tom Durkin return for the Belmont Stakes this year,” said FOX Sports President of Production/Operations and Executive Producer Brad Zager. “When it became official that an iconic piece of the historic Triple Crown would air on FOX, we knew it could only be complete with Tom's voice as the soundtrack.”

Born in Chicago, Durkin studied theatre at St. Norbert College and began calling races at county fairs in Wisconsin in the summer of 1971. In 1975, he moved on to announce at a string of small Midwestern tracks, before landing the job at famed Hialeah Race Course in 1981. Three years later, Durkin became the announcer for the Breeders' Cup, a position he held until 2005, and gained further prominence calling the Triple Crown for a decade beginning in 2001.

“The stretch duel of the 1998 Belmont Stakes remains the most thrilling race I have ever had the privilege to call,” added Durkin. “Those are the kinds of races and individual moments that stay with us forever, and I can't wait to give it another go come June 10.” Victory Gallop got up for a narrow victory to deny Real Quiet the Triple Crown, with Durkin saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words. This photo is worth five million dollars,” referring to what would have been Real Quiet's bonus payout for winning the Triple Crown.

Just prior to his retirement, The New York Times referred to Durkin as “the man widely considered the greatest race caller in the history of thoroughbred racing.” In 2015, Durkin was honored with the Eclipse Award of Merit for a lifetime of outstanding achievement in the sport of thoroughbred racing.

This year's Belmont marks the 50th anniversary of Secretariat's Triple Crown and his track-record setting performance in the Belmont, which he won by 31 lengths.

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‘Those Are Good Memories’: Breeder Dalos Remembers Victory Gallop’s Historic Belmont Run

Ivan Dalos, just as he has every year since 1998, will be wearing a proud smile when the horses load into the gate for Saturday's 153^rd running of the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

For over 40 years, he's been one of North America's most successful Thoroughbred owners and breeders, a passionate horseman with a sizable trophy case to showcase his impressive array of accolades and awards.

The number of champions Dalos has bred is a lengthy and enviable list, one that includes Victory Gallop, a colt that went on to achieve great success as a racehorse and sire, including his stirring score in the 1998 Belmont Stakes.

“It is a real trip down memory lane,” started Dalos. “I recall he was very precocious. I was just a little operation at the time and had a little farm with the mare [Victorious Lil]. I went to visit him [he was foaled and raised at Joanne Clayton's Darrowby Farms in Loretto, Ontario] when he was about four or five weeks old, and the lady kept him at the barn so that I could see them come out. They came out and they went onto this hilly pasture. This little guy, he just took off and the mare couldn't keep up with him. He was running, she was chasing him and he was not to be caught.”

Victory Gallop would eventually show that impressive turn of foot, but instead of being the one chased, he would methodically track down his rivals, one by one, until he was the one who couldn't be caught.

It's precisely what the son of Cryptoclearance did 23 years ago at Belmont Park.

And what a victory it was.

After finishing a hard-charging second to Real Quiet in the Kentucky Derby – Victory Gallop was last behind 14 horses at the half-mile pole – the bay settled for the runner-up prize to Real Quiet once again, this time in the Preakness Stakes.

In the Belmont, he went one better, denying Real Quiet the chance for Triple Crown immortality.

Victory Gallop also delivered a first that day, becoming the first Canadian-bred to win the third jewel of the U.S. Triple Crown. He is the only one to hold that distinction.

“This is a great boost for breeding in Ontario,” said Clayton at the time. “There you go folks, we can raise a champion racehorse on Ontario grass, with Ontario water and Ontario feed.”

Dalos, who has won some of Canada's biggest races and produced a long line of champions, remains modest of his connection to the Belmont champ.

“It was at the beginning of my horse-breeding experience, so I was nowhere near as experienced as I am now in recognizing talent. It's very hard to tell with young horses, to know if they will go on to greatness. I've had horses that showed absolutely nothing as babies, but they turned out to be great racehorses, and others that you felt might be good, they didn't have the heart or gumption to compete. It's hard to judge them when they are so young. But obviously, things worked out well for Victory Gallop.”

Ivan and Irene Dalos of Ontario's Tall Oaks Farm

The multiple graded stakes-winning owner isn't interested in taking a victory lap over the accomplishments of Victory Gallop, who was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2010.

Instead, what drives Dalos is in crafting the blueprint for his next stable star. He remains a student of the game, immersing himself in learning the latest techniques in the world of breeding.

It's that dedication to detail, among other things, as to why Tall Oaks Farm is still a major player in Thoroughbred racing.

The outfit's broodmare band continues to carry Victory Gallop's legacy forward. Victorious Ami, Galloping Ami, Keen Victory, Keen Mischief, Keen Success, and Silver Ami are Victory Gallop offspring. He is the grandsire of racehorse and future broodmare, Golden Ami.

Tall Oaks is also home to star stallions like Ami's Flatter, Amis Gizmo and Ami's Holiday, and champion racehorses like Channel Maker, Johnny Bear, Gamble's Ghost and Ami's Mesa.

Dalos is excited to see who might follow in their hoofsteps.

“Of course, I was proud to see Victory Gallop win the Belmont. I had never had a horse in an American Stakes at that point. I only had horses running in Canada that I had bred, but this was the first big horse, so to speak. I was immensely proud. We made history. But I try not to look back, other than what the learning experience of previous endeavors has taught me. Every horse I've been connected to has done that for me. I always try to repeat success or find more.”

Being in the position to chase the next win, he'll happily tell you, is a victory in itself.

And while he continues to be a forward thinker, Dalos will take a moment this weekend, perhaps the same time it takes to run the Belmont, to remember the handsome, high-speed colt that streaked across a hilly meadow just over 25 years ago.

“I recall watching the Belmont all those years ago and thinking, 'This is the little guy that I watched running around when he was four or five weeks of age.' I can still picture that day at the farm and then watching him win the race. Those are good memories.”

This article by Chris Lomon (@chrislomon on Twitter) originally appeared at www.woodbine.com and is republished with permission of the author.

The post ‘Those Are Good Memories’: Breeder Dalos Remembers Victory Gallop’s Historic Belmont Run appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Baffert: Medina Spirit More Of A Silver Charm Than An American Pharoah

A favorite interview standby for turfwriters speaking to a jockey, trainer, or owner with historical success is to ask them to compare their most successful horses to each other. Who is better than who? Who reminds you of who? Trainer Bob Baffert, who is asked this sort of question often, was queried on Thursday's NTRA national media teleconference about the similarities between Derby winner Medina Spirit and Triple Crown winners American Pharoah and Justify.

Baffert said the colt by Protonico reminded him of neither champion, but did harken back to some more vintage runners.

The trainer has made no secret of the fact he was surprised by Saturday's result.

“After watching the race, it was pretty impressive because he didn't get an easy lead,” he said. “He carved out some serious fractions; it wasn't a gimme. Turning for home when the swarm came, I was expecting all those horses to go by him and he just dug in and outran them all to the wire. I just kept thinking of Cavonnier — I didn't want to get too excited.”

Cavonnier was Baffert's great hope for the roses in 1996, and is best remembered for a breathless finish fighting off a late charge from D. Wayne Lukas-trained Grindstone after dealing with a smack to the face from Craig Perret, who accidentally struck the gelding with his whip while urging on Halo Sunshine. Though the official margin indicates Grindstone prevailed by a nose, many on site that day swore it was a dead heat. Cavonnier would go on to be fourth in the Preakness and pull up with a badly-bowed tendon in the Belmont. Two and a half years later, Baffert got him back to the races for a win in the 1998 Ack Ack. Cavonnier would leave the track in 2000 a hometown, homebred hero in Sonoma County, Calif., where he was born. A 2016 feature by the Press Democrat indicated that the family who bred Cavonnier retired him to a life of leisure at a ranch in western Sonoma County.

Medina Spirit was 12-1 when the gates opened, and Baffert said he could see why. It was a tough field and although he had solid finishes in his prep races, Medina Spirit hadn't looked dominant. He's also not a hugely physically imposing horse — he's not short at 16.1 hands, but is a light-framed creature.

“I really can't compare him to a horse like American Pharoah or Justify,” said Baffert. “They were superior horses that came in with the Beyers were off the charts, the numbers were faster. He's getting better though. We've learned a lot about that horse.

“He reminds me of Silver Charm. He's gutty. He's going to fight, give you that extra. He's a courageous horse. When he turned for home, he had every reason…I really thought Mandaloun was going to go on by him and he would not let him by. He did that in the Robert Lewis, where Hot Rod Charlie and all these horses came to him, and he went really, really fast early. I noticed that day when he came back, he wasn't tired, he wasn't blowing hard.

“All these good horses, they have a set of lungs on them. And you can't worry about what they cost. Real Quiet was the same way, he only cost $17,000. Actually Silver Charm was a $15,000 yearling, you know. We never take their cost into consideration.”

Neither do they.

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