view raw text
AGITATION FOR "WALK-UP" STARTS. New York Dailies May Be Expected to Aqain Follow the Enqlish Wail. Tin- agitation against the standing atari in England baa beea revived bj some ol the London daily npmilai papere, aad ii Is quite in lie expected thai we will hear the New York dailies raring over Hie •-nine thing almoal with the opening of the seaaoa :it Anjataant. Good starting depeada in greatest measure apsa Hie starter. 11 in- baa perfect control nver the Jockeys it doeaal matter inneli whether lie is iisinK the "atanding" or "walk ap" asetbod. The lirsl atari ever in.ide ii Ibis ii.iinli.v with :i imriier waa :ii Ingleside track, Baa Ptaneleeo, aad It w.is .-i ataadiag start and 1 perfect one. The boraea brake aaray like a line of cavalry aad they wen- ■ sunt- teaapered, aaraly i« i :it that. Rheee jIimi lime we bare had the "walk ap" and the •w.-iiu up :iinl atap," n well .1 the ataaafiaf atarta. Mid tiie average ahoal the Mane Im good aad bad -end 1 ills. Bat ihi~ is arhal Aagar ims in s.iy .•iIh.iii the standing starts in Kwglaad, Aagar bents the hadlag writer oa the London Sporting Life: "Though there have been aa iagraatlj bad atarta since the preaeal racing aeaaoa lagaa. we have anea aaflleieal to coavlace all Impartial people thai the -nle" ;is nnu Baed is nut :in enliridy s.-His factory I nat lament. There have beea ureariaosae • lelny- :it the pus!, ti,,. 1 1 1 1 -1 nuiewi.rlhy being that in eiitineit inn with the Liacomahlre Raadleap. n other iieeiisiuns horses have beea left altogether, ami eeveral times competltora have sagered to aa extent thai deprived thesa af all ehaaee of nhawhag their true fona. Of coarae, we simli be told thai the I.inll lies with the liuise or with his trniner. iir agaka, it will be said thai there were miarar-rlagea tqaalry brritatJag before the advent of the ■afihanlral coatrtvaace now eanalayed. Neither of lliese eontentions etTeitunlly meets Hie point at • ssiie. 1. lor one. am not an advocate for a thrnw tfajek to the old lag system of startitiK- It is out of date. Annoy bag as the delays for which the aahrtJag sate may lie ies|«iiisihle from time to lime, they are as imthinj, when emulated with the hours wasted in years gene by tkeatlgjh lal-e atarta, haraea baitkag and what not. Than as to the allegation thai an animal who Incomes excited trhen baked to put his MMK tu the tajK-s deserves .ill he jets, does it not presuppose an unat tainalde perfection. Morses, tike buanaa bakaga, have their likes and dislikes, their whims and idiosyncrasies. They are not aiilomata. yet Hie tendency is to treat them as if they were." The atartfaag-gata his now been part and parcel of our race course paraphernalia for seven or eight yeiirs. That is a period Ions enough to test its effef tlveness, hut if Hie followers of racing were ■ailed I have not the slighteet doubt thai there would be a substantial majority in favor of a different method of applying the machine. The standing start is an unnatural tliius. and is roundl* condemned by mam huh authorities, because of the needless strain it imposes on the horses, li Is also responsible for mart Jostling and crossing, and goodaeas kaowa arhal beaidea. vTe sei thia cverj day. Ii is abaolatel] nnavoldable. Then why per -i-t in the system that caaeea m mack trouble? The adoption of a walk up start would, in .iii proba bility. reduce all sneb miahape to .1 minimum. It has arorked well In Prance aad In America, north and south, and il will Worfc well here If judiciously employed. Surely ii la worth while giving It n tiial. The atarter might, at any rate, be given the option of availing himaelf of ■ walk up when the occasion seems to demand il. This i- ■ i which is. I believe, bound to oome sooner or biter, and the smuier the better. Iiela.s of more than I minute or two will then In- I Ihins of the past. No featuie of racing as conducted in Prance has struck me so iiiii.lt as the extraordinary rapklltj with which -1. iris are effected once the boraea have aaacaabled at the poet, and 1 1 laaol rail lo mind a sinsle inslainc of a horse gettUg badly avfay."
