ESPN Horse It was The Summer of Tom at Saratoga

A meet as classy and beloved as Saratoga generally has one signature moment that defines it and becomes indelibly linked to that particular year.

In 1973, it was Onion defeating Secretariat in the Whitney.

There was the Affirmed-Alydar duel in the 1978 Travers.

The 2009 racing season will be long remembered for Rachel Alexandra's victory in the Woodward.

This year, though, it was not a single race that will be the lasting image of the spectacular 40-day meet. Rather it was a brilliant body of work for the last 24 years in New York that culminated with one unforgettable and emotional Sunday afternoon.

More than V.E. Day and Wicked Strong, or Moreno and Itsmyluckyday, or Close Hatches and Stopchargingmaria, the 2014 Saratoga season belonged to retiring track announcer Tom Durkin.

For all of the great horses that raced in the famed Grade 1 stakes at the Spa, in the end it was the outpouring of affection for Durkin that was the lasting image to arise out of the summertime meet in racing's oasis in the Adirondack Mountains.

Racing fans in New York have a reputation for being crusty and cynical but from the start of the Saratoga meet until Durkin's final day behind the microphone, they were putty in the hands of the charismatic announcer.

The ground swell of emotion started to build in May when Durkin announced he would retire on Aug. 31 and it grew exponentially as each passing racing date brought the meet closer to its conclusion and NYRA kept Durkin center stage with daily tributes and replays of his best calls.

The final chapter came on the penultimate day of the meet, with the featured Spinaway Stakes destined to be Durkin's farewell on one of those magical days when 38,048 were on hand but 20 times that will claim they were there.

Mother Nature tried to intervene with a downpour that turned the main track into a sea of goo capable of obscuring obscure silks and saddlecloths, but that did not faze Durkin in the slightest bit. Unlike some professional athletes, the 63-year-old announcer had been heading into retirement at the top of his game and his final call was vintage Durkin.

The Spinaway was certain to be remembered for the circumstances surrounding it, but Durkin not only upped the ante, he went all in and raked in the pot with an unforgettable call. As Saratoga's video monitors showed both the race and Durkin calling it, he labeled the runaway winner Condo Commando as "splashtastic " and then enjoyed a hearty laugh as he went out on an amazingly high note.

The farewell tour, though, was not over. There was still a trackside ceremony to honor Durkin and as he walked down from his booth above the track and headed toward the winner's circle, there was a raucous roar from the crowd. It was more like a victory procession as fans loudly expressed their gratitude for 43 years of spectacular calls, the last 24 of them in New York.

Some chanted for him to come back for one more year. Others chanted his name in the manner and tone that the Bleacher Creatures at Yankee Stadium salute Derek Jeter, shouting "Tommy Durkin." Even Mother Nature joined the celebration as the rain amazingly stopped for the ceremony.

Looking back, the baseball analogy fit because in so many ways what happened at Saratoga that Sunday afternoon was much like that day last year when Yankee fans said a fond goodbye to Mariano Rivera. It was a special moment, the likes of which New York Racing Association had never seen before with one individual being so universally showered with love.

A year from now, there will be more races at Saratoga. Photo finishes and champions will create electricity. But it can be said without fear of contradiction that there not will be a moment to match Durkin's final call and farewell. Like Rivera's last game in pinstripes, and what awaits Jeter in a few weeks, that final Sunday of the 2014 Saratoga meet was the kind of day when you are so immensely happy to simply be there and share in such a gratifying moment.

The reminder of that came a day later. At the end of Saratoga's backyard there's a place called the Big Red Spring. NYRA uses the area on giveaway days to hand out its freebie towels and hats and the lines can often stretch out for a furlong.

On Monday, there was a lengthy line in the backyard which seemed to indicate NYRA was distributing a trinket of gold. Yet on this day, the giveaway involved nothing more than Durkin greeting fans and signing autographs. No bobbleheads; just a chance for fans to say goodbye to a Saratoga icon with one last piece of memorabilia.

In the end it will be those loud, loving cheers on Sunday and that long line of humanity on Monday that will come to mind first whenever anyone reflects on the incomparable 2014 Saratoga season.

Perhaps it should just be called "The Summer of Tom."