Unable to pay attention for more than 20 minutes at a time, I was in the kitchen feeding the cat on a recent Saturday afternoon when I heard someone on the TV call out Chick Lang’s name and describe him as an accomplished racing driver. notable achievements. fame, or words to that effect.
Wha-huh?
The occasion was the running of the Chick Lang Stakes (G3) on the undercard of the May 18 Preakness Stakes (G1). Charles John “Chick” Lang Jr. Formerly vice president and general director of Pimlico Race Course. Before that, he worked as a dealer for none other than Bill Hartack, a saddle genius. Lang wears a crewneck and a fishing shirt decorated with staples from thousands of racing seasons. After Pimlico, he reeled in the game, always landing in a place where his contacts and passion for the sport were happily welcomed. He was 83 years old when he passed away in 2010.
Lang also does a lot of media work, mainly radio. But one thing he didn’t do was call the races. So who is the broadcaster talking about? Chick Hearn is the Hall of Fame broadcaster for the Lakers. Chick Corea is an accomplished jazz pianist and composer. Chick-fil-A serves great bird food but is still not open on Sundays.
It must have been Charles David “Chic” Anderson, the man with the multimillion-dollar vocal cords who rose to the top of his career in the 1970s as the race caller for songs like Churchill Downs And Santa Anita Park and then the New York Racing Association. Anderson is a classically trained singer, and it shows. There have been some great voices at the microphone over the decades, remembering special races with improvised tunes. But no one looks like Chic.
Anderson began calling Triple Crown races for CBS in 1969. He called his last Preakness Stakes in 1976, his last Kentucky Derby (G1) in 1977 (his last three for ABC), and the Belmont His last Stakes (G1) came in 1978.
“We’ll check these two’s wires!” Anderson declared Confirmed and Alydar advanced into their fierce battle. Belmont Park lengthen.
As a final, surviving example of Anderson’s talent, his call of Affirm’s upset victory over Alydar to win the Triple Crown provided a fitting memory, even though it came too late. early. Anderson died the following year of a heart attack, at the age of 47. He was appropriately mourned during the race and missed by everyone, but the Associated Press story announced his death on the 24th. March 1979, devoted the entire third paragraph to his most famous failure.
“Anderson had the dubious distinction of calling the wrong horse the lead in the 101st running of the 1975 Kentucky Derby,” the story read. “With foolish joy leading home, Anderson told a crowd of more than 100,000 and a national television audience: ‘This is Prince Thou leading the charge.'”
Stupid fun on the ropes during the 1975 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs
“It’s terrible,” said Larry Collmus, who has called the Triple Crown races for NBC since 2011. “I’ve heard his Secretariat call a million times. It’s legendary. It’s probably the the only thing he is remembered for.”
Collmus is quoting Anderson’s description of Secretariat “moving like an enormous machine” on the way to winning the 1973 Belmont Stakes. Race callers can only pray that they get one few such spikes of opportunity and can react accordingly. Collmus had his career moment in 2015 with American Pharaoh first Triple Crown winner since confirmed.
“I never met Chic Anderson, but it was Chick Lang who gave me my first job as a broadcaster,” Collmus said. “He heard me calling the races in the teletimer room at Pimlico and got me started calling once a day at Bowie as the backup announcer. I was 18 years old.”
With Fox now broadcasting the Belmont Stakes, the Triple Crown for Collmus and NBC is over. The announcer was inspired by the Preakness’s winning call by Embrace the gray and his 88-year-old coach, D. Wayne Lukas.
Videotapes
However, the 2024 Derby is a different beast altogether.
“Unfortunately for me, I was looking outside when Mystik Dan got in,” Collmus said, referring to jockey Brian Hernandez’s bold move aboard the eventual winner.resilience And Wall are moving together on the outside, and their silk is very similar. I want to make sure I got it right. I said Resilience leads, and he never did. So when that happened, I picked up Mystik Dan a little later than planned.”
Videotapes
Collmus is in good company. Anderson’s art still lingers, and Tom Durkin is his own worst critic for capturing Harness that bird The dramatic run in the 2009 Derby was long overdue. But those guys know nothing about the legendary Clem McCarthy, who went to his grave in 1962 and is still haunted by his failed call to the 1947 Preakness.
Clem McCarthy in 1948
McCarthy was the leading sports broadcaster of his era. A prizefight or a horse race would be second fiddle if McCarthy’s raspy radio voice didn’t tell the story. His machine gun firing and rapid reporting were perfect for the frenetic pace of racing, and more people listened to his broadcast of the Seabiscuit-War Admiral match than heard Edward R. Murrow during the blitz. in London.
As the field for the ’47 Preakness entered the far stretch, On Trust led Jet Pilot, with Faultless not far behind. Then, as the leaders reached the pole, McCarthy could be heard saying, “And On Trust was still heading home, but he was busy… and the crowd stopped me for a moment…”
For the next three crucial seconds, McCarthy’s view was completely obscured by a throng of fans who had climbed up to the starting gate parked in the infield. McCarthy did not see Faultless move up inside the Jet Pilot. As far as he was concerned, Derby winner Jet Pilot himself had been chasing On Trust for a Preakness win by a long stretch, and that’s what he called it.
Faultless won the 1947 Preakness Stakes on confidence at Pimlico Race Course
Then, after a few seconds of silence, McCarthy turned around and said, “What am I talking about? Ladies and gentlemen, I made a terrible mistake. I mixed up my horses and I gave them to you.” the winning horse.” Jet pilot… and it’s not at fault.”
A year later, the starting gate is no longer parked in the courtyard.
In describing his advantages over Triple Crown races, Collmus noted that at Churchill Downsthe horses ran almost straight into the announcers during the crucial few seconds of key transition positions as the field went into the stretch.
“The Preakness can be tough, too, but you have to deal with it,” Collmus said. “Grass races in the lower field are worse because you’re blocked by tents in the field from the half-mile post to the quarter post. You have no choice but to go to the screen.”
During the television broadcast of this year’s Preakness, a Derby highlights package was presented, with the call edited to make it sound as if Collmus had Mystik Dan right in his sights.
“They do that a lot when they do features,” Collmus said. “They took call segments and moved them around to fit the story.”
So at least there’s that, for posterity. Neither McCarthy nor Anderson needed a technological upgrade, but at least the New York Times was a little kinder about Anderson’s departure, waiting until the fifth paragraph to mention the Prince of Art. However, like the AP obituary, Anderson’s Secretariat call was never mentioned. It seems to be the fate of such a noble profession, to be remembered only for mistakes.
“God,” said Collmus, “I hope not.”
