Saratoga Springs, N.Y., resident Tom Durkin is widely viewed as one of the finest race callers of all time. His excellence was recognized with the Eclipse Award of Merit in 2015, one year after he retired.

The Chicago native got his start in 1971 by calling the action at Wisconsin county fairs. He rose to prominence as the race caller for NBC Sports from 1984 through 2010 and served in that capacity for the New York Racing Association from 1990 until 2014.

Across Union Avenue from Saratoga Race Course, itself a piece of racing history dating to 1863, sits a brick building, a mixture of modern and classic lines, its exterior dotted with odes to the greatness inside. A walk through its hallowed halls yields a journey through centuries of a sport, as everything from the legendary Lexington’s horseshoe to an assortment of Triple Crown trophies greets visitors along the way.