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MASTER FIDDLE The Wood Memorial winner will have his share of followers among todays big crowd at Churchill Downs Reuben White Starting His Twelfth Derby Field Today Takes Especial Pains With Big Race and All Thus Far Have Been Classified Good GoodCHURCHILL CHURCHILL DOWNS Louisville Ky May 2 Tomorrow will mark the 12th time that veteran starter Reuben White will be sending a Kentucky Derby field away and all 11 previous starts made by White have been good White is a meticul i ous starter for any kind of a race but he takes especial pains with the Derby field and it would be news indeed if the start were anything but good goodNumber Number of starters make no difference to White as Jie is prepared for any even ¬ tuality Be the field big or small he is ready As in previous years he takes no chances on not having a man an assistant starter on hand to handle any horse that may need straightening out in the barrier In addition to his usual crew he invites assistants of other starters to Louisville for the Derby just in case I IWhite White must also take special precautions for the Derby to insure that the big one is a good one because of the crowds near the starting point A great many camera men will be there to picture the start and the field as it thunders into the stretch Protective ropes will be set up to mark off limits for camera men All the photog ¬ raphers are not experienced in Derby work hence White must make certain they do not get into a position where their move ¬ ments or flashes would cause a horse to swerve after the break j jJockeys Jockeys Cooperate Fully I IWhite White says the jockeys cooperate fully in his efforts to obtain a perfect getaway It is obviously to their advantage o do so for with a good break everyone gets a fair chance in the run for glory Assuming that there is a jam a jockey knows that the worst victim may be himself Hence prac ¬ ticing the Golden Rule Do unto others as you would have them do unto you is the proper policy policyWhite White is the first to admit that the closed modern electrical starting gate in the instance of the Derby the Bahr gate which has been improved by equipment de ¬ veloped by the Puett Gate Corporation has made starting a bit easier and less nerve wracking than in the old days when starts were made from the open barrier Start ¬ ing gates are constantly being i improved comments White WhiteBut But you still start a race with the eye observes White Therefore it is important that the mechanism of the gate responds instantly Jo the touch of the button It takes only a fleeting part of a second for a horse to turn his head or otherwise mess up an otherwise perfect alignment alignmentVeteran Veteran White carefully studies his Derby field days before the race He knows the starters who may have certain idiosyncra cies although in general Derby fields are well mannered and well trained This in ¬ formation is imparted to the assistant starters who are briefed carefully on how to handle each individual Known slow breakers are singled out for specialy atten ¬ tion Horses with other traits are watched carefully for signs of unruliness unrulinessWhite White has become both a fixture and a tradition at Churchill Downs and at the Derby He started his first race in 1933 at Coney Island now River Downs Prior to that he served a long apprenticeship as an assistant starter to many of the out ¬ standing experts of another era He started his first Derby in 1941 the year Whirlaway was the winner This also was the first year the Derby was started from the Vtype closed door doorWhile While he takes great care in starting the Derby as has been disclosed White takes it in stride knowing that he cannot afford to become nervous himself I cant afford to fret says White nor can I worry about the size of the field or the weather Mud wont make any difference The Derby field will be started Thats what Im there for I always hope it will be a good one Tomorrow night however Ill relax a little and then there wont be the pressure for me until next spring at this time
