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Here and There on the Turf j I Three Cameras Proving a Sue- j cessful j Cost Against Santa Anita Ma- J chine j Judges Should Be Farther Back I Four Stakes Remain at Bel- mont l - Santa Anita Park started something when it hired a very expensive camera to photograph the finishes of its races, because a half dozen other photographic machines of various designs have been brought out to supplant the placing judges. As well as being the pioneer, the apparatus used at the California track has proved the most thorough and satisfactory but it also is the most costly to operate, commanding at 00 daily, more than twice as much money as is asked for any of the other devices. Because of its high fee, dictated by expenditure of 5,000 in its perfection along with the electric timer worked in conjunction with it, only Santa Anita and Narragansett Park have adopted it and they are the two leading tracks from a pari mutuel standpoint in the country. But for its daily cost, use of the Santa Anita camera undoubtedly would have spread to many other tracks. Of the other cameras, that exploited by Charles M. Waite has gained the most favor. First put into operation at Tropical Park, the Waite machine has been used at Havre de Grace and. Pimlico, and is now serving Rockingham Park and soon it will be installed at Agawam Park. Another camera in steady use is that." sponsored by Marshall Cassidy and tried out for the first time at Hialeah Park. It has been adopted by the New York tracks and is in operation at Belmont Park at the present time. Other cameras have been in the process of development in Kentucky and Chicago, but the one at Hawthorne apparently isnt satisfactory as far as the Illinois state racing commission is concerned because it has directed the association to discontinue the taking ot photographs. Meanwhile still other cameras Sre being built with the idea of minimizing the importance of the placing nudges. The Eastman Kodak Company is said to be interested in the idea and may come out with a new machine shortly, but its cost will have to be moderate to gain favor with the associations. The Santa Anita. Waite and New York cameras are of different types, although each is proclaimed by its backers to possess shutters that "stop" the horses instantaneously and without favor U. the horse on the inside or the one on the outside. A high speed motion picture apparatus, the camera pioneered at the western track can film an entire field as it crosses under the line and that particular negative needed to judge the finish is the one developed within three minutes by a special method. Waites camera requires ho film, the images being reflected on a strip of highly sensitive i.-per which can be developed in less than three minutes also. This roll of pictures then is put under a magnifying glass for the judges Continued on thirty-fijth page. HERE AND THERE ON THE TURF .Continued from second page. to make their dqcision. New York and Hia-leahs camera is similar to the regulation newspaper type, taking only one picture with the shutter being operated from a beam broken by the leading horse a few feet from the finish. Waites camera must be located close to the track because it takes a small picture that cannot be enlarged for practical purposes, but the others are and should be placed in a high position. As film is required, the pictures can be thrown up to any practical size. Successful tests have been made with all these machines to determine if theyre impartial to horses on the inside or outside. Racing- officials are to be commended for the extreme care they have exercised in the matter of photographing finishes as well as for the support given the inventors of the various machines; but. as has been mentioned before here, the camera has proved beyond all question that the accuracy of the placing judges increases with the distance they are from the track up to a reasonable limit. Belmont Park enters the final week of its meeting today, with the Coaching Club American Oaks on Wednesday and the Belmont Stakes, Saturday, as the principal offerings. The Belmont headlines a triple feature program on closing day, the supporting events being the Meadowbrook Steeplechase Handicap and the National Stallion Stakes. A quality field of three-year-old fillies will clash in the Oaks, and a hard race may be expected in the Belmont from the ten to fifteen colts likely to start. The National Stallion also may be certain of a good line-up, but the quality may not be up to that of previous runnings because more and more stables are going in for conservation of two-year-olds. Even though he won at Belmont Park in very convincing fashion, Knight Gallant may pass up the race, although the same cannot be said of War Admiral, another impressive winner over the straight course. Airflame is not eligible, and the other candidates will come from among Chicolorado, Raby Rattler, Pompoon, Black Look, Ptolemy, Danger Point, Fencing and others that may develop in the meantime.
