Denman, Toro to be honored at Del Mar

Race caller Trevor Denman and retired Hall of Fame jockey Fernando Toro will be honored in ceremonies between races at Del Mar on Saturday for their accomplishments in racing.

Denman, 70, is the 2023 recipient of the Laffit Pincay, Jr. Award presented to people or organizations who have served racing with integrity, dedication and distinction.

The award has been presented to jockeys, trainers, owners, breeders, track officials, and horsemen’s organizations. The 2022 award was given to Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally.

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Denman, whose descriptive style has changed the way many American announcers call races, has been a fixture at Del Mar since 1984, a year after he relocated from his native South Africa to call races at Santa Anita. At one time in the 1990s, Denman called races at all three major Southern California tracks, including Hollywood Park, but has worked only the Del Mar summer meeting in recent years.

The Pincay Award, named for the Hall of Fame jockey, was first awarded in 2004.

Toro, 82, was inducted into racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. earlier this summer, but was unable to travel to the induction ceremony. At Del Mar on Saturday, Toro will receive his Hall of Fame plaque in a winner’s circle ceremony.

Toro, a native of Chile, won 3,555 races in North America in a career that ended in 1990.

Toro worked as a groom at a track in Chile as a teenager, and won his first race at the age of 15. After success in Chile, Toro moved to the United States in 1966 and rode on the Eastern Seaboard until he moved to California in 1968.

In 1984, Toro won the first Breeders’ Cup Mile on Royal Heroine at Hollywood Park. Royal Heroine was the champion turf female. In 1986, Toro was the regular rider of Estrapade, the champion turf female that year.

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