Larry Collmus is supposed to be in Louisville. It should be all hands on deck for the horse racing announcer—looking over notecards, practicing his pronunciation, countless production meetings, cramming every last bit of information into his brain ahead tomorrow’s Kentucky Derby.
Instead, Collmus is at home in New Jersey because for just the second time in the event’s 146-year history, the Kentucky Derby has been postponed. Horse racing’s first leg of the coveted Triple Crown is scheduled to run September 5 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s really odd. This would have been my 10th Kentucky Derby call,” Collmus said. “Traditionally on Tuesday, I fly to Louisville and start getting ready. We have meetings with NBC on Wednesday then things ramp up from there. … It’s a very weird feeling to be where I am and doing what I am in the week that is usually the Kentucky Derby. At least I have some other things going on, which is keeping me busy this week.”
While Collmus will have to wait until Labor Day Weekend to head to Churchill Downs to call “The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports,” he will be on the call for another event this weekend. The Kentucky Turtle Derby will take place at 7 p.m. ET on May 2. The event, sponsored by Old Forester, the Official Mint Julep of the Kentucky Derby, harks back to the only other time The Run for the Roses was postponed.
The 1945 Kentucky Derby was held on June 9 because the federal government suspended horse racing that January through May as World War II was coming to a close. Looking for an alternative, the Kentucky Turtle Derby was born. Held at the Jefferson County Armory, approximately 6,500 spectators watched eight 20-foot turtle races. The crowd put up $11,483 in bets with money raised from tickets, programs, entries and sponsorships going to the Kentucky Society for Crippled Children.
The turtle races continued into the 1950s, but eventually slowed—that is until 2020. With the coronavirus pandemic pausing life and sports, the Kentucky Turtle Derby was resurrected. The event will feature some of the pomp and circumstance of the Kentucky Derby—Collmus will be on the call remotely, Churchill Downs bugler Steve Buttleman will play remotely for viewers, and pre-race odds will be announced before the turtles take their mark.
“It’s going to be a fun event,” said Collmus, who has called the Kentucky Derby since 2011. “People are going to have a laugh and smile, and I think we all need to laugh and smile these days. It’s weird not having sports and every little thing helps.”
On May 2, Collmus will also have the call for the virtual Kentucky Derby Triple Crown Showdown, pitting the 13 Triple Crown winners against one another on a simulated 1 ¼-mile sprint (3-6 p.m. ET on NBC).
The eight-turtle field for “The Slowest Eight Minutes in Sports” that evening is comprised of: SEATTLE SLOW, GREEN MAMBA, Sir-Hides-A-Bunch, Galapa-GO!, What the Turtleneck?, Rocket to Nowhere, STEVE, and American Tortuga. The pre-taped race will be broadcast on Old Forester’s YouTube channel. Donations made to the Hospitality Industry Emergency Relief Fund will be matched up to $100,000 by parent company Brown-Forman
“It won’t be quite the high-energy, nervousness that I have leading up to the Kentucky Derby that’s for sure,” Collmus said. “I’m going to do the prep work and call that turtle race as if my life depended on it. I’ll make sure I’m as accurate with the turtles as I am with the horses.”
