UAE: In a shock move, race caller Alistair Cohen has left Dubai, citing the decision to replace him with top US race caller Larry Collmus for the Dubai World Cup card as the reason for returning home to South Africa.
Cohen, from Durban, was installed as the Emirates Racing Authority’s English-language race caller at all five UAE tracks at the start of the 2020-21 season. The South African succeeded Australian caller Craig Evans in the hotseat.
However, in a statement issued on Twitter on Friday [March 25], the South African said that he had cut short his contract owing to NBC race caller Collmus – renowned as the voice of US racing – being lined up for Meydan’s showpiece card on March 25.
“It wasn’t supposed to end like this,” said Cohen. “It’s with great sadness to announce that my time in Dubai has come to an end.
“Behind my back, plans were made to fly another commentator to Dubai to call the Dubai World Cup meeting,” he added. “This prestigious meeting is the reason any commentator desires to be in my position.
“It was an unbelievable privilege to call the 2022 Dubai World Cup,” said Cohen. “Sadly, the damage has been done and I cannot bring myself to continue here. To be sideswiped two weeks before the big day is something no commentator would accept.”
He wished good luck to Collmus and said he had “no axe to grind” with the American who calls the Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup.
“Larry Collmus will do a great job calling the Dubai World Cup,” said Cohen. “I know the offer was too good to refuse. He truly is a world-class caller and he will do the great day justice.”
Cohen also had some barbed comments for his former employers. “The next English-speaking caller in Dubai better have some big demands and a big heart,” he said.
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