Tom Durkin

Kicking off its third season, the Empire Racing Club (ERC) will offer a reduced price of $400 through the official re-launch date of May 15. In a departure from the first two seasons, 2021 membership is open to both licensed and unlicensed racing enthusiasts looking to enjoy the social and educational benefits of the Club. The 2021 ERC season will be limited to 200 members. The ERC will once again be managed by famed race-caller Tom Durkin. Training the current team of runners for the 2021 season are Hall of...

Luis Grandison, a Black Latino who is a native of Panama and who served as the New York Racing Association's Spanish language race caller from 2014 through March 2020, has sued NYRA claiming he was discriminated against because he was paid less than white Americans who call the races in English. According to a suit filed Tuesday in Brooklyn Federal Court, Grandison was paid $60,000 a year. The suit claims that long-time NYRA announcer Tom Durkin earned $440,000 a year before retiring in 2014 and that his replacement, Larry Collmus,...

Nick Caras, Programs Director of the NY Race Track Chaplaincy, Kim Weir, a Saratoga Volunteer Coordinator, and Mark Kehrer, Pastor of Revelation Church, have organized a small army of volunteers and sponsors from the Saratoga Springs community in recent weeks to improve housing conditions for backstretch families who have traveled to Saratoga for the duration of the meet. For years, many of the stable workers have stayed at rudimentary cabins at the Pine Grove Family Camp on Pine Road in Saratoga Springs. Caras always wanted them to have something better....

With its two annual fund-raising events in Saratoga Springs cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York Race Track Chaplaincy will instead host "Champions Talk," featuring five prominent personalities from the world of sports and horse racing, which will premiere Wednesday, Aug. 5 at 7 p.m. ET. The five individuals are Hall of Fame jockeys Angel Cordero, Jr. and Ramòn Dominguez, Kentucky Derby winning owner Terry Finley of West Point Thoroughbreds, Churchill Downs' all-time leading trainer Dale Romans and Pro Football Hall of Fame and two-time Super Bowl winning...

With its two annual fundraising events in Saratoga Springs, NY cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York Race Track Chaplaincy will instead host "Champions Talk", an event featuring five prominent personalities from the world of sports and horse racing, which will premiere Wednesday, Aug. 5 at 7 p.m. ET. The five individuals are Hall of Fame jockeys Angel Cordero Jr. and Ramon Dominguez, GI Kentucky Derby-winning owner Terry Finley of West Point Thoroughbreds, Churchill Downs's all-time leading trainer Dale Romans and Pro Football Hall of Fame and two-time...

ELMONT, NY - After winning a contest in the New York Daily News back in 1979, John Imbriale got his first taste of the announcer's booth and press office at the New York Racing Association, and has been part of the fabric at Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga ever since. A jack of all trades, Imbriale served as a backup to the legendary racecaller Tom Durkin beginning in 1990 and has held several behind-the-scenes roles with NYRA TV throughout the years as well. Appointed to the position of head announcer in...

The Empire Racing Club (ERC), an initiative by the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association introducing fans to racehorse ownership, announced the launch of the 2020 season, which officially kicks off Apr. 1. Created in 2019, the non-profit organization will again be managed by race-caller Tom Durkin. Training the current team of runners for the 2020 season are Todd Pletcher, Mark Casse, and Linda Rice. "ERC has been an enjoyable and rewarding experience for me," said Durkin. "Having been in an 8x10 announcer's booth for 40 years was a fun way...

John Imbriale, who has been with the New York Racing Association for better than 40 years, has been appointed the full-time racecaller and track announcer, taking over the position held by Larry Collmus since 2014. Imbriale joins a long list of legendary racecallers in New York, including Tom Durkin, Marshall Cassidy, Chic Anderson, Dave Johnson and Fred Capossela. "John Imbriale is a central part of the fabric of thoroughbred racing in New York," said NYRA CEO & President Dave O'Rourke. "Johnny I's high level of professionalism and flawless delivery are...

Tired of all the bad news? So were we. So, in our new series, we focus on the positive, asking people from non-horse racing families two questions: how they get hooked, and how they'll hook someone else on horse racing this year. TOM DURKIN What was the experience that made you fall in love with horse racing? I really had no particular interest in horse racing in my early childhood. My dad would go to the track and that was about it, I never really went with him a lot....

What was the experience that made you fall in love with horse racing? My dad's roommate in college was Tom Durkin, and he was still good friends with my parents when I was a kid. So when I was growing up, horse racing was something that was always on the television at my house and viewed as important. But the first instance I remember being mentally captured by the sport was when I was there for Alysheba winning the Kentucky Derby. Would you commit to creating one new fan this...