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LIGHT RAY TIMING DEVICE Beam Projected Across Track Operates Chronometer When Intercepted by First Horse. LONDON, England. The trial of timing-races by beam ray was successful on the second and concluding days of the recent Newmarket first October meeting, after having been a failure the first day. It failed through no fault in the mechanism. It was found that the position of the projector that day was faulty, the beam of light being thrown on the judges pagoda instead of away from it. On the second day this detail was corrected and for the remainder of the test it worked with every satisfaction. The trials of beam ray timing at Newmarket are reported to have satisfied the Jockey Club stewards and other responsible parties. The ray beam timing apparatus is not new. Visitors to the English and Irish dog racing tracks are familiar with it. A beam of light produced by a selenium cell is projected across the course about nine inches in front of the judges pagoda, where a clock is set in motion by the release of the handle of the starting gate. The beam or ray is thrown across the track at a height of about three feet nine inches and is aimed to strike the leading or winning horse on his breast. When the beam is broken it stops the mechanism of the clock and the elapsed time is .automatically recorded. As soon as the horses in a race come under the starters control and the starting gate carrier is lowered a buzzer gives warning-in the judges box and a red light bulb above the clock lights! At the rise of the barrier the light goes out and the clock starts and runs until the leading horse intercepts the beam. The Newmarket judge, Malcolm Hancock, announced that the experiment was a thorough success. After the first race trial he i3 reported as saying: "This new timing device helped me, because it gave me immediate notice when the start had been effected. Formerly I often was" in some doubt about it. As a matter of fact, I knew that the horses were on their way fully five seconds before the starting bell on the stands was rung." Lord Harewood, senior steward of the Jockey Club, who is keenly interested in the new timing experiment, commenting on the difference in time between the automatic record and that of the dockers, said: "The official time must always be slower than the unofficial time because of the interval that must elapse between a clockholder noting the first movement of a horse and timing the start". The race actually begins when the barrier is sprung. The starting of the clock is synchronized with the release of the barrier."
