Belmont Park and Popular Culture
A January 1975 episode of the ABC sitcom The Odd Couple — entitled "Felix the Horse Player" — was filmed partly at Belmont Park, though one of the race clips on the show features the shot of an Aqueduct starting gate.
A few years later, Dick Cavett took the camera crew of his PBS talk show to Belmont for a look at horse racing.
Belmont has hosted a wide range of top musical acts including Billy Joel, Kenny Rogers, Natalie Cole and Blondie. Titled the Coca Cola Sunset Series, these fan based events were produced by music impressario, Richard Flanzer.
Scenes for the Woody Allen movies Mighty Aphrodite and Melinda and Melinda were shot at Belmont Park, as was a paddock scene for the 1990s remake of the film Gloria with Sharon Stone and George C. Scott.
Belmont Park was featured in an episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond", where Frank, Robert and Ray bet on a horse named "Marie's Mouth".
Because of Belmont's role hosting big, nationally-televised races on broadcast and cable TV, its track announcers have been among the best known in the sport. Among the famous race callers who've served as Belmont PA announcers are Fred Capossela, Dave Johnson, Chic Anderson, Marshall Cassidy and present voice Tom Durkin.
Comedian Robert Klein made Capossella's race calls the subject of one of his routines, captured on his 1974 album Mind Over Matter.
Contrary to popular belief, Johnson—not Anderson—was Belmont Park's PA announcer during Secretariat's 1973 romp in the Belmont Stakes. It was on TV that Anderson called the '73 Belmont Stakes aired by CBS Television, where he famously described Big Red as "moving like a tremendous machine". Anderson was the TV "voice of horse racing" in the 1970s and the announcer at Churchill Downs during Secretariat's racing career. Johnson went on to be TV's voice of horse racing in the 1990s.
Anderson would succeed Johnson as announcer at Belmont and the other NYRA tracks in May 1977, serving until his death on March 24, 1979. Anderson was followed by frequent backup voice Marshall Cassidy, who was the lead caller of NYRA races until Durkin replaced him in September 1990.
Sources: New York Racing Association (NYRA), City of New York
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