Show STARTING R1iSES 1 i SOME OF THE REASON MY THIS IS 1 A WFICULT BUNES5 V L Why It Is Harder Hctfe Jian In Other C Countries Bother of Sliest Daehea Popular Pop-ular Misunderstandings Gpiid and But Starts 5 iv Starting race horses is fine art and the man who fancies it isnftewili never be convinced until he stand t fl gin hand facing 10000 persons and with a dozer or so thoroughbreds ridcfen by anxious jockeys upon the track each rider doing his best to get an advantage over his fellows In 19 cases out of 20 it is not the thoroughbred that in to blame for the trouble at the post nor is it the jockey directly but it it i the owner trainer or some speculatoin the background back-ground who has told the jockey to get off in front jio matter what happens and who has promised to pay his fine 02 reimburse him for any penalty ho may incur in carrying out instructions It is all very well to sit in the grand stand and criticise the work of the starter One must try the business himself to appreciate its difficulties and its trials It is a much harder task to start racehorses race-horses as we race in this country than in England France Austria or Ann ralia whore the pace is Very slow at the start and a length ortwo advantage when the flag falls doesnot count for much With us and especially of late years since the system of short dashes has become so popular vqth horse owners own-ers which by the way has had such a depressing influence onthe improvement improve-ment of the blooded horse the style has been to ride pellmell from the start and races arewon and lost very frequently frequent-ly when tha flag falls Judgment of pace is fast becoming a lost art and even our best jockeys now with very rare exceptions have no more idup of race rithbg than tOtmWay well and tak thd shortest hiiruit1me in the qt4olLest7possible l f pN tsvconrjequently very boy becomeS iTaed with the idea that to win i1 fiahsfc get off in t Jr 11J EeirYnoBceSe afc thePist < when there are 15 or 20 jorses mar y of them rIdden rid-den by boys not 16 year of age all ot whom have been told some of them with threats and others with promises of large rewardsto get the best of the start Any visitor to our race tracks is familiar with the scene at the posit Half a dozen horses will rush away ai a false break when there is no possible chance for an equitable start and when they come trotting back and before they have bad time to wheel and get into lino those that remained behind the first time will dash out and run perhaps a hundred yards leaving the first squad in their places This goes on indefinitely indefinite-ly The publio iu also familiar with tho sight of one or more horses standing motionless some lengths behind their competitors The starter asks the ridew of the horses in advance pf Jibe laggar to wait until they have taken their po bitions Each boy seems to think it is his bounden duty to walk his horse when those in the rear attempt to move up at a walk and to break away madly if an attempt ig i made by those behind to come up at a run A starter should have a thorough Imowledge of racing should be a man of a high degree of intelligence bs I quick of eye and hand and above all be of unimpeachable integrity The is pno pf mi ny thousands of dollars oftentimes often-times hundreds of thousands of dollars is decided by the fall of his red flag and it is his duty to eee that every horse no matter by whom ho is owned has an equal chance when he leaves the post Every effort is made to catch the horses in motion and on as nearly even terms as possible The eye must take in the field in a twinkling and if the judgment is that the start is satisfactQ ty the hand will act in unison with the eye and the brain Very often horses are in bad places and what might look to be a good star from the grand stand would be a poor die in the judgment of the starter and the flag does not fall Criticism follows and generally it is of the harshest and most unjust character Some horses ara quicker on their feet than others and will make a good start look like tt poor one through their ability to get underway under-way much more rapidly than their competitors I com-petitors A good start when the flag drops becomes to the unthinking and ignorant a poor start and abuse is heaped heap-ed upon the head of the official From time to time mechanical appliances appli-ances for gtaring race horses have been invented bui they have not been practical prac-tical and have not achieved success A swinging gate to be raised by electricity electrici-ty was spoken of some time ago but fractious thoroughbreds could not begot be-got near it There are again horses tlmt t t are not to be controlled at tim sand s-and collisions with t ie obstacle would undoubtedly be of daily occurrence Then too it would take months of drilling drill-ing to get horses tq overcome the idea that they were not going to run into the gate This and many other objeo tious can bo raised against this system A western inventor has patented a gate to be lowered before the horses while they stand at the post which may be moved awny from them at a rapid rate of speed by electric power the barrier moving onward and upward at the sam thno4ew York Snu |