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INNOVATION AT ARLINGTON Precise Price Each Starter Will Pay to Be Posted Before Barrier Is Released. One of the greatest innovations yet devised in connection with pari-mutuel wagering relates to imparting to the public, before the running of a race, the precise price each horse will pay. The system is to be inaugurated by the American National Jockey Club the day Arlington Parks twenty-four-day spring meeting begins — Monday, June 4. This will be possible during the interval the starters are at the barrier awaiting release by the starter. The figures will be posted simultaneously so that all may see. Thus will be avoided the customary delay occasioned by a similar system of calculation following the finish of a race. The procedure will be : Every starter in a race will be held at the barrier after the machines are closed, meaning there is no further opportunity to bet. Meanwhile calculators are obtaining the results, based on the original rule, except before, not after, the race. Only a brief time will be required to post the result by several men. The instant the calculation is completed a signal to the starter will enable him to send the starters on their way. Obviating the possibility of complaint from owners who send to the post highly weighted horses, a groom will wait at the barrier to take charge of each horse the period the jockey is out of the saddle. Of course, the jockey will ride the horse to the post, then dismount. It is figured thi3 system will be accorded instant and enthusiastic approval by the patrons. When the 1929 racing season opens at Arlington Park the totalizer, as it is used in Australia, will be in operation in the infield.
