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STARTINO STARTING HORSES HORSESThe Horseshoe The remark is often heard at Harlem Dick Dwyer is rapidly losing his grip he seems no longer to have any sort of control over the boys And this in the face of the fact that Mr Dwyer at times makes phenomenally good starts It is argued by some horsemen that the gate was invented to do away with a horse breaking from behind and so fairly on his stride at once gaining an advantage over horses stand ¬ ing King flatfooted If such a thing is possible the way to give all the horses an even thing would be to have them standing with their noses to the barrier when the gategoes gateless up and if horses will not stand still there is a way to educate them so to do or failing in this to bar them from all racetracks lilt does not require a piactical piratical horseman as C H Pettingill Petting was said to be or a man with an eagle eye as Richard Dwyer is presumed to have because of his ability to shoot pigeons from a trap to fill tho thou position of starter Fitz Fritz ¬ gerald the starter of the Jockey Club was for ¬ merly merely a telegraph operator who probably knew nothing of training horses or handling a gun yet he at New Orleans is said to have dispatched the horses on more nearly even terms than an man that ever dropped the flag He was first tried at Milwaukee by Bush and Johnson simply on account of his class as a man and ex ¬ perience prince made of him an excellent official in the most important position on the racetrack racetrackTho racetrack Tho Theo starting gate is a vast improvement over the old method of getting horses together and if tho thou jockeys have confidence in the starter there is no trouble to get the horses to stand quietly until the word go is given This is demonstrated when any accident happens to the machine or when a jockey is dismounted Now will be seen an exhibition of the greatest docility in the animals that a moment before were plunging about because tho thou jockeys were seeking to gain advantage Any system allow ¬ ing King a running start knocks all turf calculations to the winds One must then play jockeys in ¬ stead of horses Take it today at Harlem There are only a few good jockeys Thorpe Skeets Skeet Martin Tommy Burns and Caywood Cawed J Reiff Riff simply wins because he rides tho thou best cattle in the best condition and with the go d boys the poor ones have little chance A uoy buoy like Everett may in his anxiety to get away keep everything at fever heat and while the inferior jockeys are watching him in front some one of the firstclass fistulas ones is lying away behind ready to come on with a bulge when the flag falls It was the leniency shown by James Sheridan to Tiny Williams in the matter of staying behind the field that eventually killed the reputation of the best starter the country ever saw Once let the jockeys lose confidence in the starter and his doom is sealed sealedThe sealed The starter should give a mean acting horse not over three trials to join his field and if he then refuses consider him no longer in the race A cunning owner with a horse in fine condition will else instruct his boy to stay away back as if his horse wouldnt wouldn't come to the scratch and the consequent breakaways of the other horses will soon make first money a cinch for tho thou one that has stood at the post Take tho thou case of Babieca Barbican Tuesday Did be not have far and away tho thou better of it Whan Wham the final drive came who can say that ho would have won if he had even run a sixteenth at any one of the numerous breakaways that would have been a go but for him himMr shimmer Mr Dwyer may be the subject of undeserved unfavorable criticism as no one can gainsay j that the material in the dog races ho has had to handle has been enough to try any mans patience But when Hawthorne opens the pub lie will have a chance to judge just whore ho stands It has come to a stage where people do not swallow the newspaper praiee praise or blame accorded any man from a Sampson down downMr downer Mr Bruen Braun who will make his bow to Chicago j racegoers racehorse Monday is said to be the best oxpon oxon j ent Kent of the new school of starters brought in by use of tne tine gate Originally employed at the electric light track at St Louis he has the rep ¬ utation mutation of getting many horses away head and headr header even in such a bull ling When last spring he was employed at Memphis the horse ¬ men scoffed at tho thou idea of employing such a man yet his work there is now by these verj veer same men pronounced perfection Any man who can get tho thou horses away quickly and in line will have as his stanch friend thu thou racing public Most men of today are strictly form players and no system of handicapping takes into consideration delays at the post And any horseman would rather have his horse get off with even three lengths the worst of the start than have him run his race at the post Weight counts terribly at breakaways and a really good horse has a chance no matter where he gets off if tho thou start is quickly made Even does such an animal not win he will bo ready to run again in two days where many breakaways may unfit him for an entire season if not ruin him altogether altogetherWhen altogether When the gate was first used in this country at San Francisco it was used as it is in the land of its origin Australia The jockeys were forced to bring their horse into line until they all nosed tho thou barrier When it flew up it was a start It worked like a charm and long delays at the post were at once done away with The starting gate should be used in no other way Tho Theo recall flag is a stupid innovation that de ¬ stroys strays the very purpose of the starting gate The truth is the gate has never been rightly used in Chicago or on any eastern track for that matted It is an admirable invention of great utility in racing but like all useful inventions it requires use in the right way to show its real excellence a
