Larry Collmus

Larry Collmus
Born	October 13, 1966 Baltimore, Maryland
Sports commentary career
Sports	Thoroughbred horse racing

Larry Collmus (born October 13, 1966) is a Thoroughbred horse racing announcer. A native of Baltimore, Collmus has called at numerous racetracks around the country. He is currently the announcer at Gulfstream Park and New York Racing Association. He is also the Race Caller for NBC's coverage of the Triple Crown, Breeders' Cup, and Haskell Invitational. He previously called races at Monmouth Park and has sometimes called at Suffolk Downs.

Collmus got his start by calling his first race at Bowie Race Track in 1985 at the age of 18. In 1985 and 1986, he served as the assistant announcer at Laurel Park, Pimlico, Bowie and Timonium Racetrack in his native Maryland. In 1987 he became the youngest announcer in the country after being named to call the races at Birmingham Turf Club in Alabama. After Birmingham, Collmus moved to California and became the announcer at Golden Gate Fields in the San Francisco area, a position he held until 1991 when he moved to take over announcing duties at Suffolk Downs in East Boston, Massachusetts.

Collmus' move to a major summer racing circuit occurred in 1994 when he became the announcer at Monmouth Park, host of the 2007 Breeders' Cup. After spending 2 years as the winter announcer at Aqueduct Racetrack, he became the full time announcer at Gulfstream Park in 2007. In 2011 he succeeded Tom Durkin as the voice of the Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup broadcasts on NBC Sports. He was named track announcer at Churchill Downs beginning with the 2014 racing season. Notably, he called the races from Nov. 19-23 of 2008 as one of five potential announcers to replace Luke Kruytbosch. On August 13th, 2014, Larry Collmus was announced to once again succeed Tom Durkin, this time as the voice of the New York Racing Association. He began calling the races at Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course starting in April 2015.

Notable calls

Collmus earned national notice when on August 22, 2010, he called a race at Monmouth Park featuring two horses named Mywifenosevrything and Thewifedoesntknow. The two horses made a move on the back stretch and found themselves leading the race, with Collmus playing off the contrasts of the two horses' names in his stretch call:

... "Mywifenosevrything! Thewifedoesntknow! They're 1-2! Of course they are! Mywifenosevrything in front, to the outside, Thewifedoesntknow! Mywifenosevrything! Thewifedoesntknow! Mywifenosevrything... MORE than Thewifedoesntknow! (Monmouth Park - August 22, 2010 - Race 7)

Collmus' stretch call attracted worldwide attention and earned hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube.

Collmus has also called races at Saratoga Race Course, Belmont Park, Santa Anita Park, and the Meadowlands as well as numerous races broadcast on ESPN, Fox and CBS.

He had the call for NBC on June 6, 2015, when American Pharoah won the 147th running of the Belmont Stakes, in the process becoming the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978:

... “And they’re into the stretch, and American Pharoah makes his run for glory as they come into the final furlong. Frosted is second with one-eighth of a mile to go. American Pharoah's got a two-length lead. Frosted is all out at the sixteenth pole. And here it is! The 37-year wait is over! American Pharoah is finally the one! American Pharoah has won the Triple Crown!”

He also had the call of the 2015 Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland for NBC, where American Pharoah attempted to be racing's first Grand Slam winner:

"And they're into the stretch, and American Pharoah has a four-length lead, Effinex is second, and then it's Frosted, Tonalist, and Honor Code. American Pharoah comes into his final furlong, and he's got a five, a six length lead as they come to the wire. A Triple Crown Winner, A Breeders' Cup winner, A HORSE OF A LIFETIME!!!"