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.

He discussed what it means to Saratoga Race Course to host the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets while a new Belmont Park is built, the timeless charm of Saratoga Race Course and the pressure that goes with calling a Triple Crown race as part of a wide-ranging question-and-answer session conducted on behalf of America’s Best Racing.

PEDULLA: How significant is it for Saratoga to have the opportunity to host the Belmont Stakes?

DURKIN: Economically, it’s a huge boon. People will come up here for the restaurants and hotels and everything that goes with that. But there is an excitement that you get in Saratoga when horse racing is involved. It’s the oxygen we breathe here in Saratoga, horse racing. To have the Belmont here is very special and you could tell that by last year. You couldn’t move in the building. They talk horse racing year-round here. It’s just the main topic of conversation. The Belmont is Saratoga on steroids.

PEDULLA: Why is racing so popular in Saratoga?

DURKIN: Well, it’s a tradition going back to 1863. We’ve got one thing we excel at better than any market in the country and that’s horse racing. Kentucky would be a larger example, but that’s a state. We’re a small city of 29,000 people. So, to have the best in your little town, that’s going to make it popular. And everybody in town knows somebody in racing. We interact a lot with the major players and that’s part of it.

Durkin chats with a fan at 2023 Belmont Stakes. (Eclipse Sportswire)

PEDULLA: What makes Saratoga Race Course special?

DURKIN: Well, it’s the real thing. If you go to Disney World, they have a reconstruction of a famous German castle. But this is not Disney World. It’s the real thing. It’s a building that goes back to 1895. There is a closeness that you have here in Saratoga. The jockeys walk from the track through the crowd. You can go up and ask them for an autograph, ask them for a selfie. Can you imagine doing that at an NFL game or any other professional sport for that matter? When the horses come down the lane, you can look them right in the eye. It’s not like watching it on a television screen, not at all.

PEDULLA: Do you have a favorite Saratoga restaurant to recommend?

DURKIN: No, because the others in the bunch would kill me.

PEDULLA: Is there a place you go to relax?

DURKIN: My favorite place to go is Principessa Elena Society for the Italian working man of Saratoga. I’m a member of the club there. It is the only club I think that would have me. It’s just a great little spot. I can go in the backyard where the bocce courts are and smoke a cigar. I’m probably going to be watching the Belmont from there just because I like to watch the TV broadcast and you can’t really hear it at the track.

PEDULLA: What activities would you recommend to visitors to Saratoga?

DURKIN: You mean beyond the track?

PEDULLA: Yes.

DURKIN: I would say just walk around Congress Park. It’s a genuine Victorian-era park. I would walk down Broadway and just soak in the history.

PEDULLA: What can you tell us about your retirement? I know you are actually quite busy.

DURKIN: There are a few things I do. The thing I enjoy most is teaching public speaking at Saratoga Central Catholic High School. As a matter of fact, I’ll be giving their commencement address on June 27. I do occasional voiceover work. I don’t pursue it. But if somebody wants me to do it, I’ve got a small recording booth in my house. I like acting and every once in a while, I am able to land a role in one of the community theaters here. I am a member of the board of trustees of the National Museum of Racing and I give tours of the museum on a regular basis. Golf, I do a lot of golf. And lunch is a very big part of my retirement.

PEDULLA: What drew you to racing?

DURKIN: Growing up in Chicago, I went with my dad a few times. Arlington Park was one of the most fascinating places to be exposed to. It was chock full of people and cigar smoke and a high level of excitement.

PEDULLA: Is there a great deal of pressure associated with calling a Triple Crown race?

DURKIN: Oh, yeah. There’s a lot of pressure. You do get nervous and you get very nervous when there is a Triple Crown on the line. But, as I tell my students, the number one way to combat that is preparation. So I prepared and prepared and prepared.

Birdstone defeated Smarty Jones in the 2004 Belmont Stakes. (BloodHorse Library/Anne M. Eberhardt)

PEDULLA: Do you have any Belmont Stakes calls that you made that stand out to you?

DURKIN: Victory Gallop and Real Quiet (1998), Birdstone and Smarty Jones (2004) and Curlin and Rags to Riches (2007). Those three were thrilling and eventful and historical, which is what the Belmont provides.

PEDULLA: Is there one you would rank at the top?

DURKIN: Of those three, no.

PEDULLA: Would you like to see the Triple Crown format changed?

DURKIN: I have been going back and forth with this forever. Of the three entities, Churchill Downs, they’re not going to change, although if they ran the [Kentucky] Derby one week earlier that would change everything and solve everything. But that’s not ever going to happen. Pimlico has the most at stake in changing the format to their favor. With the Belmont [Stakes], a change would not be in their favor. It would impact quite negatively on the Saratoga meet. To make it easier, it’s not like it can’t happen. We had one just six years ago and one nine years ago. That’s not ancient history. The breed hasn’t changed in six years. In a strange way, NYRA benefits from the rarity of a Triple Crown winner. Everybody wants to be there to see something special. If a horse won the Triple Crown every two or three years, the Belmont Stakes would lose cache and importance. It’s hard to do and that’s what makes it special. I think it’s the best thing for racing for the Triple Crown to remain the same.

PEDULLA: Is Derby winner Sovereignty or Preakness winner Journalism the better 3-year-old?

DURKIN: I don’t know. But, I’ll tell you, not far behind them is Baeza. Baeza is definitely not a toss. Baeza is an improving horse.