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KENTUCKY KENTUCKY DERBY DERBY DAY DAY AT AT CHURCHILL CHURCHILL DOWNS DOWNS 3 = 3 = STARTER HAMILTONS TASK Has the Most Tedious Position in Connection With Derby Race. He Is Protege of Noted Starter, A. B. Dade ; —Will Start Ills Fourteenth Derby Field Today. LOUISVILLE Ky., May 5.— The fellow with the most tedious, nerve-wracking position connected with racing is William Hamilton, whose job it is to start each years renewal of the Kentucky Derby. He is responsible to the race tracks, the jockeys, the trainers, the owners and to everyone throughout the world who is interested in the outcome of the famous and coveted stake. Starter Hamiltons skill, cunning and keen eyesight are at stake to see that all contestants are on equal terms at the break. If the horses break unevenly the race is not considered a true test. "Arkansas Bill," as some of the boys call him, climbs into the little stand at the quarter post tomorrow to set off his fourteenth Kentucky Derby. No one has started as many runnings of the big race as he. But Hamilton should be the foremost member of his profession. He has been raised with racing. The stockily-built fellow is familiar with all the angles of the sport, understanding every one of them thoroughly. As an exercise boy, working for the great trainer Sam Hildreth, he first became acquainted with racing. After learning more about it through a host of other positions he became a starter. A. B. Dade, noted starter, took a liking to Hamilton and taught him the secrets of sending the fields away to fine breaks. Then when Dade died, Hamilton, practically his protege, stepped into the starters stand on a number of tracks. Stocky Bill is a good master, a good leader, and ».is crew of assistants follow his orders splendidly, as he directs them in the handling of their charges with such chatter as: "Have a little patience, hell come up in that stall in a few seconds." Or, maybe, "See if hell stand still in that, next stall." Or, "Try to back him into position — hes not going to walk in." After he has the field aligned perfectly, his thumb rings the electric bell and then another running of the Kentucky Derby is on its way. "ARKANSAS BILL." "Arkansas Bill," as capable as racing officials come, has been exceedingly successful in starting the chapters of the big classic. Otherwise, he wouldnt again be here Saturday to start the sixty-fifth installment of it*. But, before Bill, there were a host of men who set off renewals of the big race, with each year virtually finding a new one in the. starters stand. Among them were: Col. Robert Johnson, W. H. Johnson, Gen. Abe Buford, M. Lewis Clark, James Sheridan, James Caldwell, James B. Ferguson, C. H. Pettingill, Jack Chinn, Capt. J. T. Williams, Morgan Chinn, H. D. Brown, Richard Dwyer, William H. Shelley, Jake Holtman, Mars Cassidy, Harry Morrissey, James Milton and William Snyder. Methods of starting horses have been completely revolutionized several times since Col. Robert Johnson "beat the drum" to send the field away in the first Kentucky Derby, back In 1875. But, since the "beat the drum" system, the medium for setting-off the start of the Derby has been the "drop of the flag," and then the "tape barrier," and then the "stall gate," the method used today. There might have been still another, that is, if Col. Morgan Chinn, who dispatched the 1896 chapter, had approved a new-fangled starting device of that era. The "Dill machine," invented by a man of this city, was employed in the starting of all other races at Churchill Downs that Derby Day. But when the Kentucky Derby came up, Colonel Chinn walked up to the quarter pole with his "flag," fearing to experiment on the big race.
