The Churchill/Turf Paradise announcer Luke Krytbosch is calling at Gulfstream today. Anyone know why?
That\'s a good thing if you ask me.
I would guess Vic is headed back to SoCal to call Hollywood.
Does he annoy anyone else out there? He shouln\'t be telling us what he thinks is going to happen.
I love how Vic tells us which horse is getting the best trip, and they never win! Someone please inform him the best trip is usually the leader on the rail.
I think Beyerguy is right, Hollywood starts this week.
Maybe he should go back to calling the No Cal Fair Circuit. Surprised he gets to call at the major tracks.
NO ONE out here likes him...and it\'s not just the horses he says are getting the best trip that don\'t...it\'s also calling a horse as \"finished\" and seeing it cross the finish line first - usually in a stakes race!
He should have stayed at Hialeah...it would be worth keeping it open to prevent him from calling GP and HP.
I can\'t say I pay announcers much mind. I\'m so busy watching my horse, noting the fractional times and the fractional horses I rarely hear what they actually say or I ignore it I suppose.
I thought the call on last years Fountain of Youth was outstanding, but it helps to have a bang bang finish after a long stretch duel.
The guy I can\'t tolerate is Trevor Demond. He\'s got that high pitched nasal twine and it ruins my concentration. I turn the volume down or mute him when he calls.
no matter what you guys say..he\'s gone from So FL for now - \"and they\'re NOT going to catch him today\"...
And he\'s not the guy who says that. He\'s gone too.
Looks like Luke was in town and just got to call a race. Vic was back for the next race.
No one on earth is worse than Mike Battaglia.
I like Vic and Durkin. In the harness world, Larry Letterman kicked butt.
Spook:
The guy at Tampa is IMO worse than Mike Battaglia-- he sounds like a carnival barker.
Is Letterman the guy who did great imitations of other race callers? I think I once heard him at the Meadowlands thoro meet call 9 races in 9 different voices-- Denman, Durkin, Marshall Cassidy, etc. Very entertaining
Anybody remember Costy Costas? Is Shenandoah Downs still standing out back behind Charlestown? They should have an old timers day and re-open Shenandoah for a day of racing and have Costy call the card. In Maryland they used to do that with the old Marlboro oval. I do not think there ever was an announcer as distinctive as ol\' Costy!
Richie....the guy who does the impressions is Frank Mirhamadi (sp?), one of my favorites, and the guy who currently does Louisiana Downs and used to do Hialeah and a little Fairgrounds after Tony Bentley left.
I cannot stand Vic Stauffer. He is really bad. Every stakes race, at the wire he announces the winner and then screams \"Yessss\"; just so unneccessary. When there is a horse who is clearly winning big, he gives very little information about what\'s going on behind him. He just repeats the winner\'s name a bunch of times. It\'s hilarious when he attempts to predict the winner on the turn. \"You better take a look at so and so in the blue sleeves.\" If i bet that horse i just throw my ticket out every time. Sometimes I think he\'s watching a different race than me. The worse is when he says a horse draws clear and pulls away from another horse in the stretch, only to find out 70 yards later that the horse never pulled away....so Stauffer gives credit for the other horse making a miracle recovery on the rail. What a clown (no offense CtC).
Mike Battaglia is horrendous, but gets lucky that Turfway is such a good betting track. I do not mind as much.
Let Larry Ledderman call some thoroughbred races again. Ahh the days of Garden State Park.
Bull
Larry calls once in a while at Philly Park. If I owned SA the first thing I would do is fire Trevor Denman & hire Larry.
He doesn\'t take himself to seriously.
Bull:
Story I was told re: old Garden State Park. On the day it burned in 1977, Rick Wilson crossed the wire on a winner about the time it became evident that a serious fire had started. In the winners circle, the track photographer was waiting for all to be right: the horse standing still, all the owners there, etc.
Wilson looked at the photographer and said \"Could you just take the f-----g picture, the f-----g grandstand is burning down\".
My most vivid memory of the new old GSP: watching simulcast of IMO the best Derby ride ever: Shoe/Ferdinand/ 86.
richiebee,
Well, it worked out for him but, if that hole had closed, people would have been calling him senile.
Rick Wilson could ride with anyone. Craig Perret too. But the starstruck horseplayer will always be calling for \"P Val\", or \"JD\", or Johnny V\" etc.
They need to learn that the horse makes the jockey & not vice versa.
Sadly, Rick Wilson suffered a career ending injury last year at Pimlico.
I knew Wilson was hurt bad and apparently survived. It was a brain injury I thought. If hes retired I hope hes fit to find something else to do. He was a good jock and so was Perret.
Richie
I am not old enough to remember the old GSP pre-fire. Unfortunately I was not around to see stars like Big Red when he ran there in 1972.
I grew up in the 80\'s/90\'s and recall Garden State mostly as it was when it closed. Still, those times were amazing; I remember some memories like they were yesterday. Being 8 years old, going to watch my grandfather\'s horses run (he only owned a few claimers mostly). I remember spending every Saturday up there with him as a kid, simulcast betting. You know how it was when you were young, you used to walk in the track and just be in complete awe of everything. It is still exciting everyday, but not the same when it was all so new. I drove past the old GSP site the other day, and got a little misty-eyed. All that was left was the gate. It\'s good to take a trip down memory lane sometimes.
As far as Ledderman goes, sometimes I\'ll watch Freehold on my dish just to hear him call a race. He is about as unique as it gets and would love to hear him do some thoroughbred meets. Larry Colmus at Monmouth is also very, very good.
And I echo everyone\'s sentiments about Rick Wilson, the guy could flat out ride horses.
Let\'s get the money this weekend guys.
Overlays to all and to all a goodnight!!!
-Bull
With Luke prepping for Churchill at Gulfstream, Michael Wrona (formerly of Lone Star)now has the gig at Turf Paradise. Hollywood opens Friday and that\'s where Vic will be.
FWIW, I\'ve worked with almost all of these announcers and of the ones I have actually spoken with, they are a good bunch of guys. I\'ll be working with Frank opening weekend at Louisiana Downs.
Bull, Larry Collmus also does great impressions of other track announcers. Good luck! Asfufh