Tom Durkin
The recently retired track announcer Tom Durkin, a long time Standardbred owner, will be an equity partner on horses within the West Point Thoroughbred partnerships, including the promising 3-year-old filly Phantom Phasr (Ghostzapper-Ballistae, by Mizzen Mast) who is scheduled to make her debut this winter. In addition to his ownership interests within the organization, Durkin will work directly with Finley and West Point’s Chief Operating Officer, Tom Bellhouse in business development and partnership relations. Durkin, who made his final call at Saratoga Race Course on August 31, will be honored on Saturday night 1/24/15 with the Eclipse award of Merit for a lifetime of outstanding achievement in the Thoroughbred industry. He called races at numerous race tracks throughout the Midwest before moving to Hialeah Park in 1981. Three years later, he was named track announcer for the inaugural running Breeders’ Cup which aired on NBC. He retained that position for 21 years, until the races shifted to ESPN in 2006. In August 1990, Durkin began a remarkable 24-year tenure with the New York Racing Association. Throughout his time with NYRA, he served as the voice of the Belmont Stakes, and on eight different occasions, Durkin was behind the microphone when the Triple Crown was on the line. His account of Real Quiet’s thrilling Triple Crown near-miss against Victory Gallop in the 1998 Belmont stands as one of the most dramatic calls in the history of sports broadcasting.
