Larry Collmus © Benoit Photo
There’s been a changing of the guard, so to speak. An end of an era at Del Mar.
Larry Collmus has assumed the reins in the announcer’s booth this summer. After several years calling the Bing Crosby meet, Collmus will do both meets in 2025 and beyond. After 54 years behind the mic – 40 of them at Del Mar -- Trevor Denman decided to retire and enjoy life with his wife on their farm back in Minnesota.
Enter Collmus who has established himself as one of the premier race callers of this generation, calling the Kentucky Derby since 2011 and the Breeders’ Cup since 2012. He’s worked at most of the major tracks around the country and jokes about following racing icons.
“This is my second time following a legend,” Collmus says. “I did it with Tom Durkin in New York. So call me the ‘legend follower’.”
Because of his experience, it’s been a smooth transition for Collmus to fulltime Del Mar announcer. He says working here for a few years, five Fall Meets and one summer session to be exact, and getting to know many of the people and the layout goes a long way when adjusting to the new gig.
Larry comes to Del Mar with a whole new wardrobe. One he had to go out and buy after he went through a weight loss regiment this winter that helped him lose 76-pounds.
“It started August 13, I remember the exact date,” Collmus begins. “I had got back to New Jersey from here. I had been here for the first couple of weeks for FanDuel and I was walking around and my back was hurting me, I was out of breath and thought ‘I have to do something about this.’ So I saw my doctor and he suggested I try one of those weight loss things called Zepbound.
“It reworks your brain to the point where you want to eat healthy,” Collmus continues. “So I got on that and proceeded to change my diet and did a lot more exercise. I went from 225 to 149 pounds.”
He says he feels great and no longer finds the stairs in the Del Mar grandstand a daunting task.
“On Saturday I was talking with friends in the press box and I noticed the horses were about to come out on the track and it was time for me to go. I ran up the stairs, up to the mic and said ‘the horses are on the track.’ Never out of breath at all. Last year I would have died.”
Collmus has known Trevor Denman for almost 40 years. They first met in the mid-eighties, when he and a high school buddy came cross country to experience California racing. They visited Del Mar and met Trevor up in the booth.
“It was an old building then, different from now,” Collmus recalls of the old wooden grandstand. “Then two years later I was hired to be the announcer at Golden Gate for the first half of the meet and Trevor did the second half. So we worked together that year. He came up from Santa Anita. At the time he wasn’t working at Hollywood Park. Trevor would come up to Golden Gate and call the last part of the meet there. I would work in the racing office but I spent a lot of time up in the booth.
“He was the one who told me I needed to get a better pair of binoculars,” Collmus adds. “He also gave me some tips on what to look for. How to watch the horses and how they are running in the race, the ears and such, and what the jockeys were doing. I learned a lot from him.”
The two crossed paths again in 2012 when Collmus came to Santa Anita to call his first Breeders’ Cup.
“It (the Breeders’ Cup telecast) had gone back from ESPN to NBC that year,” Collmus remembers. “Trevor was ESPN’s announcer. I had just started with NBC and they had Trevor do most of the races while I did the Classic and the Lady’s Classic. The first Breeders’ Cup winner I called was Royal Delta and then Fort Larned in the Classic.”
The first year Collmus called the races at Del Mar was in 2020, the first summer of Covid. Denman decided not to make the trip out from Minnesota so Del Mar asked Larry if he’d like to fill in and he jumped at the opportunity. Del Mar was so pleased they brought him back in the fall and he’s done every fall meet since.
“When I first started in June of 1985 I just wanted to call (races),” Collmus states. “I didn’t have high aspirations. It was more like ‘this would be a fun job to have. We’ll see where it goes.’ I didn’t think it would ever go where it went. All the lucky things I’ve been able to do.”