And aaaaaaway he goes …
Trevor Denman, whose iconic calls for 40 years and more than 15,000 horse races at Del Mar became almost as much a part of San Diego’s summers as sun, surf and sand, is retiring.
Denman, 72, recently informed Joe Harper, CEO of Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, of his decision, with Harper noting the text message said in part: “My soul is telling me that now is the time.”
While disappointed, Harper said he wasn’t surprised to learn Denman no longer wished to travel west each summer from the Minnesota farm where he lives with his wife of nearly 40 years, Robin.
“I think the call of the farm was getting a little more attention than the call of Del Mar,” Harper said, “and I understood that. And just the fact that he had given up (working) the fall meet (back in 2020), and I certainly understood that.
“We were lucky to have him for so many years.”
The decision will be officially announced this morning. Through a track spokesman, Denman declined further comment, other than to say, “This is one of the hardest decisions I have ever made.”
His retirement is effective immediately, meaning Denman’s last call, likely forever, was the final race of Del Mar’s summer meeting on Sept. 8. The winner was a 4-year-old filly named Rugelach, and Denman punctuated her runaway victory with one of his familiar expressions.
“It’s all Rugelach, out here moooooooving like a winner. And Rugelach and Umberto Rispoli win it easily.”
Denman began his career more than 50 years ago in his native South Africa, and his first major job in the United States was in 1983 at Santa Anita. Harper hired him the next year to replace the retiring Harry Henson, and Denman called every summer meeting at Del Mar except for 2020, when he declined to travel due to Covid. He also worked the fall meetings at Del Mar from 2014-19.
He was replaced in that role in 2020 by Larry Collmus, who now will become the full-time announcer at Del Mar. Collmus, 58, also serves as an analyst for FanDuel TV and as the voice of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Breeders’ Cup for NBC.
Collmus recalled first working with Denman in 1988 at Golden Gate Fields in Northern California and being told he needed a better pair of binoculars (which he immediately bought). It was only part of his education.
“I learned so much from him,” Collmus said. “I had listened to him from afar, obviously, and I was so impressed with how he would be able to pick up horses so early in the race and some of the great lines that he gave and I was like, this guy is just so good. And then I got a chance to work with him and got to know him a little bit and you know, he just kept getting better after that.”
Denman’s descriptive style was different than nearly all his predecessors, who just described the action: Who was winning and by how far, who was second, who was third and so on. Denman chose to tell the story of the race, and not with the usual expressions.
A horse wasn’t just rallying, it was “coming like an express train.” A field trying to catch a frontrunner “would have to sprout wings” to catch up. And the best feeling of all for a bettor was when their horse was so far in front, Denman would say, “If you’ve got your money on that one, go to the window and collect.”
“To me, you want to be professional, but it’s also important to be entertaining as well,” Denman said in 2017. “I try to balance the two. I don’t like ‘so-and-so is in third, so-and-so is in fourth and so-and-so is in fifth.’ I think you have to pump a little life into it.”
He wasn’t the only caller who did that — Collmus mentioned Tom Durkin as well — but Denman’s ability to spot how a race was unfolding while also keeping track of all the horses, nine or more times a day, was remarkable. At times he would identify a horse on the backstretch who looked likely to win probably before even the horse’s jockey knew. And he often kept fans apprised of where the favorite was in a race.
There’s no better example of that than in the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic, featuring the unbeaten mare Zenyatta. It’s the most memorable call of Denman’s career, and arguably anyone else’s either, outside of Chic Anderson saying Secretariat “is moving like a tremendous machine” in the 1973 Belmont.
From the beginning, Denman was locked in on the horse he knew fans were most interested in following.
“Field sent on their way in the Breeders’ Cup Classic to the roar of the Santa Anita crowd,” he said. “Regal Ransom bounced away quickly. Zenyatta is dead last. Zenyatta’s dead last early!”
He went through the field twice, noting each time Zenyatta was about 10 lengths behind the leaders. By the time he went through for the third time, the field was approaching the stretch and Denman said, “And let’s see, Zenyatta has a lot, a lot of ground to make up. Zenyatta, if she wins this, she’ll be a superhorse. She’s starting to pick them off, though.”
As the field straightened out for the stretch, Denman continued: “Zenyatta going to hook to the outside. Meanwhile, it’s Colonel John, Summer Bird in the red cap, Oh, Zenyatta’s come to the outside. Zenyatta coming flying on the grandstand side. Gio Ponti on the inside, Summer Bird is right there.”
Then, with 50 yards to go, Denman knew what he was seeing and exclaimed: “This is un-be-lieve-able” finishing just before she crossed the finish line.
“Zenyatta! What a performance, one we’ll never forget!”
Denman also called races at Hollywood Park, Fairplex Park, Golden Gate Fields and at eastern tracks including Pimlico. He was the voice of the Breeders’ Cup for several years when it was on ESPN and also worked on many movies.
He retired from Santa Anita in late 2015 and announced his departure virtually the same way as he did this week, without coming back for one final season where he could be saluted.
Harper said he wouldn’t have expected anything else this time.
“He doesn’t really like the limelight,” Harper said. “I know when he got the Laffit Pincay Award (in 2023 at Del Mar), he was uneasy in the winner’s circle. He was smiling, but I could see the look that he’d rather be upstairs with the microphone.”
With Trevor Denman Day seemingly unlikely, Harper was asked if he would consider naming a race after the announcer.
“I would consider putting up a statue for him,” Harper said. “He was such an asset for us. I’ve been through a lot of race callers over the (50-plus) years I’ve been hanging around racetracks, and he was so different and so good and so accurate and (put) more drama into a race than I ever could have imagined.
“He’ll always be the guy that always helped us.”
Posner is a freelance reporter.