Trevor Denman celebrates his 60th birthday Monday and on Friday, he’ll embark
The math is staggering and it’s not lost on the Durban, South Africa, native,
“I left home when I was 31 and now I’m 60,” Denman said. “It’s frightening,
Hired by then Santa Anita Senior Vice President of Marketing and Assistant
“There was a lot of resistance to the way I was doing my job at that time,”
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“There were two announcers at Clairwood (Racecourse in Durban) and one of
them quit. I was told to come out to the races one day and to call a few races
into a tape recorder, so I did. Then, the guy in charge told me ‘Okay, you’re
calling the sixth race.’ I had no idea I was going to call a race on the public
address system, but I did and I ended up working there for the next 13 years.”
Denman said that in 1982, at age 29, he decided to come to America and was
allowed to call a race at Bay Meadows that winter.
“I then came down to Santa Anita and they let me call two races. I went back
home and I got a letter two weeks later from Alan Balch offering me a job. I’m
sure he was under a lot of pressure, but Balch never wavered and here I am.”
For his part, Balch credits Santa Anita’s late Senior Vice President of
Racing Frank E. Kilroe and publicity department staffer Bill Kolberg for
assisting in Denman’s Santa Anita tryout.
“Mr. Kilroe sent Trevor to see me when he arrived at Santa Anita out of the
blue one day and Bill Kolberg had visited Durban and had heard Trevor call
races,” Balch said. “After he called the last race that day, I just had a hunch
that if we hired him, it would change American race calling forever and it has.
“His style and method were so new to us, that only my fellow dinosaurs know
just how different it was…But to us he seemed revolutionary in a good way,
because just hearing what he said, you could visualize what was happening, or
about to happen, with both horses and riders.
“He had and has a consummate work ethic and devotion that enabled him to
overcome any obstacle and reach the very pinnacle of his profession and of our
entire sport.”
Known for his signature “And AhhWaaaay They Go,” when the horses break from
the starting gate, a major component of Denman’s greatness is his capacity for
spontaneity and his willingness to let races develop and to describe them
accordingly.
“Spontaneity is the key. I let the horses tell me how they’re going. You
cannot pre-plan what you are going to say in a race. It always sounds rehearsed
and it will backfire on you more times than not. I can honestly say that I’ve
never pre-planned what I’m going to say. I do say things like ‘They’d need to
sprout wings…’ and so on, but what I’m doing is responding to a horse opening up
on the field. I’m just describing what is happening.”
Two jockeys are atop Denman’s list of all-time favorites.
“Eddie Delahoussaye and Laffit Pincay,” he said. “Eddie was phenomenal. His
timing was unbelievable and his cooperation with the horse and the way he
dovetailed with them was amazing. They just ran for him and it didn’t matter
what class level they were at. He seldom used the whip and it didn’t matter if
they were a claiming horse or a graded stakes winner — he rode them the way
they wanted to be ridden.
“As for Laffit, he was just the ultimate jockey. What more can you say? He’s
a first-class person and it always showed on the racetrack. He was so strong and
I believe he won with horses that other guys would not have because he was in
sync with them and they responded to his balance and physical strength.
“I would have to say that in my time in America, the three greatest horses
I’ve ever seen are Sunday Silence, John Henry and Precisionist. All three were
amazing.”
In addition to his regular duties at the upcoming Autumn Meet, Denman will
also be calling races on NBC Sports Network during the two-day Breeders’ Cup
World Championships on November 2-3.
When asked if he ever feels big-game type anxiety when preparing for races
like the Santa Anita Handicap or the Santa Anita Derby, Denman discounted the
specter of pressure — with one exception.
“When I’m preparing for most big races, I feel the excitement attached to
those races and I think that comes across in my delivery,” he said. “It’s just
more exciting to call the big Grade 1 races than most of the overnight type
races.
“The Breeders’ Cup is the exception. There is pressure there because we have
so many races and in most of them, California-based horses only account for 10
to 15 percent of the field, so I’m seeing 80 percent of them for the first
time.”
As he readies for his 30th autumn season at The Great Race Place, Denman has
an eye to the future and admits he is cognizant of Father Time.
“Have I thought about retiring? No, not really. The day I wake up and say ‘I
don’t feel like going to work today,’ will be the day I make my decision. The
ace in my pack is the fact that I spend five months of the year on a farm in
Minnesota. It’s been a great battery-charger for me and it allows me to come
back to work fresh and ready to go.”
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