Speaker 1: Joining us now NBC Sports Larry Kalmas. He'll be calling
Speaker 1: the races throughout the weekend the coverage of the fortieth Breeders'
Speaker 1: Cup World Championships that will be highlighted by the six
Speaker 1: million dollar Breeders Cup classing that'll be Saturday at three
Speaker 1: thirty Eastern on NBC and Peacan. Larry, thanks for joining.
Speaker 1: What's the toughest aspect of calling a horse race?
Speaker 2: I would say getting the horses names in your head,
Speaker 2: the memory of all the horses, especially on a Breeder's
Speaker 2: Cup weekend when there's fourteen different races, and just getting
Speaker 2: all those names and knowing all those horses, and then
Speaker 2: actually forgetting them after every race because you've got a
Speaker 2: new race. So it's like a short term memory test
Speaker 2: every half an hour.
Speaker 1: What about rain or fog? How is it trying to
Speaker 1: navigate that?
Speaker 2: Well, it makes things a little bit more difficult, especially rain,
Speaker 2: because when it rains the u that causes mud, which
Speaker 2: causes the colors of the jockey silks to change, which
Speaker 2: makes things a little bit more difficult. Fog doesn't bother
Speaker 2: me too much because no one else can see either,
Speaker 2: so I can just do the best I could do
Speaker 2: you know we had that in the Preakness with Justify,
Speaker 2: and we were all blinded by the fog, so all
Speaker 2: you could do is do your best.
Speaker 1: How much betting do you do on races?
Speaker 2: Hardly any I've just never been a guy that's into
Speaker 2: betting that much. And I do enjoy calling the races,
Speaker 2: but I figure, you know why I give you paycheck
Speaker 2: back if you don't have to do.
Speaker 1: You give advice? Though to people who do bet I do.
Speaker 2: I do part of the year I work for as
Speaker 2: an analyst on television, and so I will give advice
Speaker 2: and sometimes I'm right and sometimes I'm wrong.
Speaker 1: When you look at this field, like what should stand out?
Speaker 1: If the audience is going to watch, keep an eye
Speaker 1: on what or who.
Speaker 2: On the Breeders Cup Dirt, there's a horse named Cody's
Speaker 2: Wish who's become the more famous horse around than any
Speaker 2: other because he's named after a young man named Cody
Speaker 2: Dorman who is in a wheelchair seventeen years old. And
Speaker 2: ever since Cody started coming to the track to see
Speaker 2: his namesake, Cody's Wish run, the horse just keeps winning.
Speaker 2: And I actually just met Cody about five minutes ago
Speaker 2: for the first time, and everybody is super excited when
Speaker 2: Cody's wish run, so looking forward to that more than
Speaker 2: anything else.
Speaker 1: How many countries will be represented.
Speaker 2: Well, we've got he had the United States, Canada, Japan, England, France, Ireland.
Speaker 2: I'm sure there's a missing one or two, but there's
Speaker 2: certainly plenty of It is definitely a worldwide event, without
Speaker 2: any question.
Speaker 1: If you had a magic wand you could waive, and
Speaker 1: you want to change one thing about horse racing, what
Speaker 1: would it be?
Speaker 2: Want to find a way to pack the stands on
Speaker 2: a daily basis rather than on just the big days,
Speaker 2: and create some sort of regular interest outside of the
Speaker 2: Kentucky Derby and then the Breeders' Cup, so that people
Speaker 2: know that this is a fantastic sport to be around
Speaker 2: year round and pure excitement.
Speaker 1: Well when did it change?
Speaker 2: I think things started to change a little bit with
Speaker 2: the proliferation of gambling back you know, the lotteries came along,
Speaker 2: and then you know, when the racetracks started offering simulcast
Speaker 2: betting and advanced deposit wagering where you could just bet
Speaker 2: at home. It just became easier than to go to
Speaker 2: the racetrack. But there's nothing like the experience of being
Speaker 2: at a racetrack live and seeing these majestic horses, especially
Speaker 2: here at sant Anito with the San Gabriel Mountains in
Speaker 2: the background. This place is absolutely gorgeous and to me,
Speaker 2: there's nothing like live horse rate.
Speaker 1: Does any other sport translate into success like a play
Speaker 1: by play voice? Have you done other sports?
Speaker 2: No, I've not done any other sports. I've wanted to.
Speaker 2: I think probably the closest thing. I've talked to Doc
Speaker 2: Emrick a couple of times about it, and I think
Speaker 2: hockey is probably the closest thing, just because of the
Speaker 2: speed of the game and you know, being able to
Speaker 2: keep up with what's going on with you know, all
Speaker 2: these different athletes on the track at the same time.
Speaker 1: We had Jason Garrett on earlier today and he talked
Speaker 1: about Secretariat needed thirty five people to get the horse
Speaker 1: into the gate. Whether that's true or not, but once
Speaker 1: it got in the gate, then you didn't never worry
Speaker 1: about Secretariat. How much do you read into body language
Speaker 1: with a horse prior to getting in the gate.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I think it's important that a horse, you know,
Speaker 2: isn't big problem child, you know, going into the starting gate.
Speaker 2: Most of them aren't, but occasionally there are horses that
Speaker 2: need a little help. And I know we had an
Speaker 2: issue here earlier in the week with a horse from Japan,
Speaker 2: Ushba Tesorro, who's going to be one of the favorites
Speaker 2: in the Classic, and he gave them hell at the
Speaker 2: starting gate. He didn't want to go in, and eventually
Speaker 2: he got into the gate. So you don't want that
Speaker 2: to happen on race day because you know, when it does,
Speaker 2: it could take a little bit out of out of
Speaker 2: a horse because of you know, expending all that energy
Speaker 2: resisting going into the gate.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I would think it would be like that
Speaker 1: horse has so much energy it is ready to run.
Speaker 2: You see it differently, Well, it's just yeah, I mean
Speaker 2: it could you could look at it two ways. Yeah,
Speaker 2: they're they're a little bit fired up at the gate
Speaker 2: because they're ready to run, or you know, just the
Speaker 2: fact that you know, don't waste your energy before the race,
Speaker 2: you know, fighting others, and then you'll have plenty more.
Speaker 2: I think a lot of the best horses around I
Speaker 2: don't remember any of that about Secretariat, of course, he's
Speaker 2: a lot before my time. But I think for the
Speaker 2: most part, when a horse goes into the starting gate
Speaker 2: without trouble, it's a good thing.
Speaker 1: Have you ever ridden a thoroughbred?
Speaker 2: I have not. I'd be definitely afraid to do it. Well.
Speaker 1: This comes back to the you know, Belichick and Brady,
Speaker 1: the jockey or the horse who gets who deserves the
Speaker 1: most credit.
Speaker 2: I would say we'll put an eighty twenty horse. You know, jockey.
Speaker 2: Jockey is important in that you want to be able
Speaker 2: to get a good a good trip, not get in
Speaker 2: any trouble during the race, and not make any mistakes.
Speaker 2: But the horse is the one that's got to do
Speaker 2: all the running. So if a good jockey can stay
Speaker 2: out of a good horse's way and do everything right,
Speaker 2: then it's a perfect combination.
Speaker 1: Have fun this weekend, Larry, we'll be watching.
Speaker 2: Thanks Dan, We'll hopefully you have some exciting action here
Speaker 2: at the track.
Speaker 1: That's Larry Calmus, a bit NBC Sports. They're a thoroughbred
Speaker 1: racing announcer. He'll be on the call this weekend's coverage
Speaker 1: of the fortieth Breeders Cup World Championships, highlighted by the
Speaker 1: six million dollars Breeders' Cup Classic Saturday at three thirty
Speaker 1: Eastern on NBC and Peacock