RIP Marshall Cassidy

[John Kelly]

Cassidy was 75.

Track announcer at NYRA racetracks for the decade of the '80's.

Known for his accurate margins when calling the races, thanks in large part to his background as a longtime chart-caller.

Loved his machine-gun style delivery with precise diction.

 

[jfhst18]

I loved Cassidy's calls, the way he'd place the entire field before there started to be lead changes, and the way he'd stay out of the way of a race. He was a caller for the era when there was a culture of horseplayers who provided the excitement in their own heads. Here's a story Rich Halvey tells about him. It's not that funny by itself, but the fact that everyone reacted to Marshall breaking his own mold tells you what a good job he did of making himself be taken for granted:

I have to tell this story that involved Marshall Cassidy, the NYRA race caller Durkin succeeded. If you ever heard Cassidy call a race, he had the diction of a Shakespearean actor, but never varied he tone much during a race. We never questioned his accuracy, but he wasn’t known for his blood pumping calls. On an otherwise non-memorable weekday, a bunch of regulars were milling around the OTB in Amsterdam. As I remember, at that time all we got was an audio of the race call on delay. Cassidy is doing his normal straightforward call, when a horse named What a Wabbit takes the lead. When Cassidy comes out with, What a Wabbit on the wail, the entire place cracked up. None of us could ever remember Cassidy even being remotely humorous.

Here's Cassidy's call of the 1989 Traver's Stakes if you want to take a trip down memory lane, or if you're a younger gambler who wants to hear a craftsman call a race.

Easy Goer's Travers

 

[Valuist]

He definitely had precise diction, and like jfhst18 said, he liked to stay out of the way of a race, mainly at the end. I did go to You Tube but Dave Johnson called the 1989 Travers (at least for the TV feed). A typical Cassidy call would close something like this: "Easy Goer................................in front."

 

[John Kelly]

Thanks for sharing, JFHST18.

Hope all is well.

Cassidy was a craftsman and he did stay out of the way of a race.

My memory deceived me a bit.

I always liked when Marshall Cassidy would rattle through a 10 or 12-horse field in rapid succession.

But his greatest strength might have been his perfect use of the powerful pause, especially at the start of a race or, as Valuist noted, at the end of a race.

Unfortunately for Cassidy, his legacy was somewhat overshadowed by the brilliance of Tom Durkin.

 

[jfhst18]

A typical Cassidy call would close something like this: "Easy Goer................................in front."

Valuist I included the link to Casssidy's call of that race in my post.

As professional as Cassidy was, I think I also appreciated that he'd call a field of $10,000 claimers differently than a stakes race. Those machine-gun calls game when he was not going to give a race any more than it deserved. If it was extra competitive or had a good finish he was there for it, but other than that...just the facts, ma'm. It was in the big races that his timing and pauses would really accent a race.

 

[John Kelly]

Excellent review, JFHST18.