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REUBEN W WHITE White Rings Starting Bell Sixteenth Straight Time TimeRuby Ruby Careful Conscientious Workman With Rich Background BackgroundBy By JOE HIRSCH HIRSCHCHURCHILL CHURCHILL DOWNS Louisville Ky May 4 Theres no substitute for experi ¬ ence and the man in the starters stand today Reuben Ruby White like other I Churchill Downs officials has a rich back ground in his field to draw upon in coping i with the problems presented by the start ¬ ing of this eightysecond Kentucky Derby DerbyWhite White who took over his present post in 1941 Whirlaways year will be on the job for the 16th consecutive season today and if his past work is any indication the sizable Derby field will leave the Bahr gate at the head of the stretch in perfect alignment alignmentWhite White a careful conscientious workman goes to great lengths to insure as good a start as humanely possible for the Louis ¬ ville classic For instance he makes a close study of the gate behavior of all Derby candidates who may go in the Trial or other prep races and then records this in ¬ formation in a book which he discusses with his chief assistants the morning of the Derby DerbyExtra Extra gatemen are also hired to insure an attendant for each fractious horse and to help with the hundreds of details that invariably crop up on Derby Day DayWhite White who has served as starter or assistant starter at tracks throughout the nation since 1924 hails from Stanford Ky in an area which has produced such starters as Boots Dickerson Buddy Wing field Johnny Morrissey Red Bellew and A B Dade His biggest Derby field to date dateContinued Continued on Page 42 D White Rings Starters Bell For Sixteenth Straight Derby DerbyContinnued Continnued from 40 D Dcame came in 1951 Count Turfs year when 20 horses went to the post while in 1948 Citation scared off all but five opponents and one of these was his stablemate Coal town townWhite White likes to give horses plenty of chance to settle down in the barrier and will not rush a field away particularly in as important a race as the Derby DerbyOne One of the major difficulties hi starting a Derby is the huge crowd of cameramen that cluster in the infield near the gate Most photographers have had Derby exper ¬ ience and know where they should be But White must be on guard lest an inexperi ¬ enced man startle the highstrung thor ¬ oughbreds with blinding flashbulbs flashbulbsAs As for the riders White says theyre the best in America cooperate willingly and rarely give any trouble
