Larry Collmus (born October 13, 1966) is a

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

announcer and current track announcer for Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. A native of

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, Collmus has called at numerous racetracks around the country. He is the race caller for

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

' coverage of the Triple Crown and

Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred racing, Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was ...

. He previously called races at

Gulfstream Park Gulfstream Park is a Thoroughbred racing, Thoroughbred horse race track, casino and outdoor entertainment and shopping destination in Hallandale Beach, Florida, Hallandale Beach, Florida, United States. It is among the most important venues for ...

Monmouth Park Monmouth Park Racetrack is an American race track for thoroughbred horse racing in Oceanport, New Jersey, Oceanport, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and is operated under a five-year lease ...

Suffolk Downs Suffolk Downs is a former Thoroughbred race track in East Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The track opened in 1935 after being built by Joseph A. Tomasello for a cost of $2 million. It was sold in May 2017 to a developer who plans to cre ...

and NYRA.

Commentary career

Collmus got his start by calling his first race at

Bowie Race Track Bowie Race Track was an American horse racing track located just outside the city limits of Bowie, Maryland. It operated from 1914 through 1985. The facility is now a training center for Thoroughbred racehorses. History The one-mile oval racetra ...

in 1985 at the age of 18. In 1985 and 1986, he served as the assistant announcer at Laurel Park,

Pimlico Pimlico () is a district in Central London, in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Lon ...

, Bowie and Timonium Racetrack in his native

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. 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 Golden Gate Fields was an American horse racing race track, track straddling both Albany, California and Berkeley, California along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay adjacent to the Eastshore Freeway in the San Francisco Bay Area. With the closi ...

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 East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, which was annexed by the city of Boston in 1836. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Massachusetts, Winthrop, Revere, Mas ...

. Collmus' move to a major summer racing circuit occurred in 1994 when he became the announcer at Monmouth Park, host of the 2007

. After spending two years as the winter announcer at Aqueduct, he became the full-time announcer at

in 2007. In 2011 he succeeded Tom Durkin as the voice of the Triple Crown and

broadcasts on

. Collmus was named track announcer at

Churchill Downs Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States that hosts the annual Kentucky Derby. It opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was prominent in Kentucky for many years. The first ...

in the 2014 racing season. Notably, he called the races from November 19–23, 2008 as one of five potential announcers to replace Luke Kruytbosch. In 2015, Travis Stone took on regular race calling duties at Churchill Downs, although Collmus continues to call the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby () is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of . Colt (horse), Colts and geldin ...

for NBC as part of his Triple Crown duties. On August 13, 2014, 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 Belmont Park is a thoroughbred racing, thoroughbred horse racetrack in Elmont, New York, just east of New York City limits best known for hosting the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the American Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United Stat ...

and

Saratoga Race Course Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track located on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York, Saratoga Springs, New York (state), New York, United States. Opened in 1863, it is often considered to be the oldest major sporting v ...

in April 2015 as part of a five-year contract. He departed NYRA after his contract expired in 2020. Collmus called races at Del Mar in 2020 as regular track announcer

Trevor Denman Trevor Denman (born 24 September 1952) is a South African American sportscaster and public-address announcer specializing in Thoroughbred horse racing. Background Denman was born in Germiston, Gauteng, South Africa. A part-time jockey and ex ...

did not attend due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Denman returned in 2021. In March 2023, it was announced that Collmus would call the 2023

Dubai World Cup Night Dubai World Cup Night is a series of eight thoroughbred horse races and one Purebred Arabian race held annually at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. From 1996 through to 2009, the event was held at the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse. Run ...

Meydan Racecourse Meydan Racecourse is a racecourse in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The grandstand is a half mile in length, and can accommodate over 60,000 spectators. Meydan opened on 27 March 2010, replacing Nad Al Sheba Racecourse, which formerly occu ...

, replacing the regular Emirates Racing Authority caller Alistair Cohen. Cohen stated that the deal to hire Collmus was done behind his back and in response he terminated his ERA contract with immediate effect and returned to his native

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. On July 19, 2023, Dennis Drazin, Chairman and CEO of Darby Development LLC bestowed upon Collmus, a 20-year

Monmouth Park Racetrack Monmouth Park Racetrack is an American race track for thoroughbred horse racing in Oceanport, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and is operated under a five-year lease as a partnership with ...

announcer, the 2023 Bill Handleman Award for his work on 2023 $1 million Haskell Stakes (Grade 1). On March 6, 2025, it was announced that Collmus would take over as the permanent track caller for Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. This announcement came after long time caller Trevor Denman announced his retirement after 22 years. Collmus previous called for Denman during the COVID-19 Pandemic at the track.

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:

Collmus' stretch call attracted worldwide attention and earned hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube. Collmus has also called races at

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious race ...

, and the Meadowlands as well as numerous races broadcast on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

and

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

Triple Crown Calls

He had the call for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

on June 6, 2015, when

American Pharoah American Pharoah (foaled February 2, 2012) is a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the American Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2015. He was the 12th Triple Crown winner in history, and in winning all four races, became the first ...

won the 147th running of the

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over the worldwide classic distance of . Colt (horseracing), Colt ...

, in the process becoming the first Triple Crown winner since

Affirmed Affirmed (February 21, 1975 – January 12, 2001) was a champion American Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who is the eleventh winner of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States), American Triple Crown. Affirmed was well known ...

in 1978:

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:

In 2018, Collmus called another Triple Crown win, when Justify won the 150th Belmont Stakes:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collmus, Larry 1966 births Living people Mass media people from Baltimore American horse racing announcers Churchill Downs announcers