The Washington herald., 1906-12-24
THE TASK A MOST TRYING ONE
Adoption of the "Gate's Has Been a
Great Help Ina Getting Fields Away
bother To the Starter, but He is
Lenient with Them-Bad at Post.

i
to the very important one OF sending off
/ large fields Of horses on equal terms with
/ the least possible delay at the post For
/ the Improvement generally which has
! taken place in the conduct Of racing. the
public is greatly indebted To the efforts
I of the Jockey Club, and during my ex-
/ peTience as official starter 1 can willing
I ly testify to the strong support which
nave az all times been accorded by the
stewards in my efforts to maintain the
I necessary discipline among the jockeys
+ under my control. Unless backed up by
/ the hearty cooperation Of these gentle
men, it is hardly necessary 80 say that
1 the position OF a starter would not be a
/ very enviable one.
/ When one recalls the tedious, tIresome
/ delays al the post. which were the rule.
/ rather than the exception. before the in
/ PRODUCTION OF the starting gate, one re-
allies how much the racing world is in
/ debted 10 the inventive genius of the
/ Australian. Alexander Gray, for the me
/ chanical release which has superseded all
I over the world the old-time style of start
/ ing horses by lowering a flag or beating
a drum. 1t was in 1888. so l am informed,
4 that the barrier was first used by Gray
/ at suburban race course near the city
/ OF Melbourne in Australia. but il was
not until eight years after. in the spring
{ Of 1896 that il was used in this coun-
/ try. It was introduced 70 California by
/ r. E. de 3. Lopez. owner Of the we'll
/ known little brown horse, Articulate.
when that sterling piece of horsefiesh
I was raced by Bob Smith. Lopez had
/ been a racing man in Australia. and had
secured the American rights for the in
/ yentiOn.
Lopez's Starting Gate.
/ It was al the Ingleside track, San
/ Francisco. that Lopez made his first
start with The gate Ia a hurdle race. Ny
/ friends, Judges Joe Murphy and Capt.
I Rees, were I'm the stewards stand on that
/ occasion and they were both filed with
/ apprehension when they saw Lopez, with
/ his inseparable big pipe in mouth, line
/ the horses up IN front of the machine
/ To their relief, the start was perfect
! one, and the applause Of the crowd had
/ not died away when the horses had re-
I turned to scale. The barrier came into
/ Immediate use, as Ed COrrigan took it q
/ month or SO afJerward 10 the Memphis
| spring meeting. from whence IL worked
/ its way 20 the East.
! For some time after its introduction
/ the starting gate was accompanied by
/ the use of the recall flag. This meant
/ that If the starter was not satisfied with
1 the alignment of the horses when the
/ barrier was sprung he failed 10 drop "a
/ flag which he held, and called out
} Come back The fact that II was no
.f.. s.ra u. .
/ tiagman, who held an advance flag some
/ seventy-dve yards in front Of the start
/ ing post, and who, when he perceived
/ that the starter failed 20 lower his
/ flag. did likewise
/ The recall was first introduced as q
/ safeguard in case the starting gate fail
/ ed, as occasionally il did. TO work prop
/ erly- The system. however was radically
I bad one. and open TO many objections. in
/ spite of which fact ID was only after
/ considerable persuasion that the authori-
/ ties were induced 20 abolish it, one Of
I the worst features of the recall system
! was the opportunity it offered TO jockeys
/ to point by declining TO accept what
/ would have been an equal motion when
1 the gate was sprung. The numerous
/ false starts made wore horses out at the
post, the delays frequently occasioned
I were an iusufferable nuisance. and il
I caused feeling of great relief when il
/ was dropped into the limbo of things
/ forgotten.
Starters Work Difficult.
/ Although very great Improvement has
been made in the starting of horses
/ brought about in great measure by the
/ fact that more attention Is paid 10 the
| schooling Of horses, and that rigid dis
/ cipline is exacted from the Jockeys. it
/ frequently is mace the subject of consid-
/ cradle criticism. Too much, I sometimes
think is expected from the starter. He
is to be at his best all the time. and no
! excuses are accepted. Frequently after a
start in which every horse has been in
| perfect line, a jam occurs: two or three
horses are knocked back. but from the
/ stand, IL appears as though those horses
We're left and the "dopesters'' fmmedi-
/ ately make their note Poor start. d"
This sort Of thing the starter must ex-
pect It is all in the days work.
| Frequently, however, the starters work
is blamed for the loss Of a race. when
the result ought to be attributed to 9TH
er causes. Nowadays, with the aid of
the form chart. and the reports Of ex-
pert checkers, the handicappers figure
the results Of a race very closely. When
slight alteration in the track, some in
reference which frequently takes place.
the result does not come out in ac-
! cOrdance with their calculations. they
/ naturally cast about for some excuse.
/ Some one is to blame. for of course. the
/ figures cannot be wrong. so the DOOR
| starter catches it. and in this way often
| comes in for severe criticism for which
the occasion has no warrant | cannot.
! Of course, speak for the rest Of the mem
beers Of my profession, but for my own
part the occasional Kicking of hard
. losers does not bother me if my work in
general proves satisfactory to my en-
plOyers and the public.
Troubles with Jockeys.
| Naturally a starter occasionally has his
troubles with the jockeys Among the
great number of little fellows now riding
whose employment is necessitated by the
very light weights under which horses
race in this country, there are many
who lack the experience and strength
necessary to control a FESTIVE thorough
bred. Indeed, it has often been a won
der TO me how well these midget jockeys
get on, and that they do so well is
proof of the precocity of our American
youth whose ability in the saddle makes
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