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Legendary Broadcaster Will Make History At This Saturday's Kentucky Derby

Originally posted on The Spun | By Chris Rosvoglou | Last updated May 3, 2025 9:34 AM ET

History will be made at the 151st Kentucky Derby regardless of who wins.

The overwhelming favorite heading into this Saturday's race is Journalism at 3-1 odds. However, Sovereignty and Sandman aren't too far behind at 5-1 and 6-1, respectively. Of course, there are also a few trendy long shots such as Luxor Café and Citizen Bull.

While there'll be plenty of eyes on the track, some fans will be tuning in just to hear the voice of NBC announcer Larry Collmus.

Collmus joined NBC Sports in April 2011 to help out with its coverage of the Triple Crown. That turned out to be an excellent hire.

As soon as this Saturday's race begins, Collmus will officially become the longest tenured announcer in the history of the Kentucky Derby.

"Larry Collmus will set the record of most consecutive Kentucky Derby's called this weekend, with his 15th in a row on NBC, breaking the tie with Dave Johnson, who called it from 1987-2000 on ABC (Johnson also called the race from 1978-80)," Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports said.

During a recent interview with Front Office Sports, the legendary broadcaster talked about his passion for calling horse races.

"My father was the guy that put in the soundsystem at the Maryland State Fair," Collmus told Front Office Sports. "They had horse racing there. He would have me work for him in the summer basically monitoring the sound at the race track while he did all the other stuff.

"While that was happening, I just fell in love with racing—not only what was going on on the track, but the characters around it. I got to meet so many people. I just knew at that point that I wanted to be involved in some way. And then I started listening to different race callers around the country. There’s so many different styles of calling. I became fascinated with it, and started doing impressions of guys that I heard."

The 2025 Kentucky Derby will air on NBC at 6:57 p.m. ET.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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