Legendary horse racing announcer Tom Durkin has stepped down as the voice of the Triple Crown due to stress.
Durkin, who has called the last 30 Triple Crown races on network television, decided not to renew his NBC Sports contract. He will continue to call races for the New York Racing Association (Aqueduct, Belmont, and Saratoga).
“It’s just the stress got to be too much,” Durkin said. “When you’re walking around with a pit in your stomach for three months a year, just a general bad feeling and nervousness. You look up stress in the dictionary or online, and I’m a classic case of it. Sometimes you have to look out for your professional life; more importantly, you have to look out for your personal life. This is a bad professional decision and a good personal one.”
NBC hasn’t announced a replacement for Durkin. Larry Collmus, the track announcer at Gulfstream Park and Monmouth Park, is the leading candidate.
“We will announce a replacement for Tom shortly,” said Adam Freifeld, senior director of communications for NBC Sports.