Emerald Downs start

[KMS]

I'm watching the Boeing Handicap, and as they're ready for the start, I notice a guy in a green shirt standing on the track, about 10-15 feet in front of the gate, down by the rail. He's not in the direct path of the horses, but if one of them veers to the inside, he's gonna get run over or crushed against the rail. I can think of no reason for something like this.

[dutchboy]

Wouldn't that be the starter?

[banacek]

The guy at Woodbine does the same thing..and it always seemed as unnecessarily dangerous.

[dutchboy]

Wasn't it Big Brown in the Belmont where they had a photo of the starter in front of the gate and near the rail possibly interfering with Big Brown's start.

[Tampa Russ]

The guy at Woodbine does the same thing..and it always seemed as unnecessarily dangerous.

When I lived in PA many years back, I used to go to midget car races at a local dirt track. The flagman used to do the same thing, which always seemed stupid. It had to be that it made hime feel "important and in charge"...pretty much ego. One night he had to leap out of the way of a spinning car at the start and he got clipped. He was back the next week, with a cast on one leg, but from then on he stayed in the tower at the start/finish line where he belonged.

[joanied]

Wasn't it Big Brown in the Belmont where they had a photo of the starter in front of the gate and near the rail possibly interfering with Big Brown's start.

YEP!!!

IMO, all the tracks that have the started standing ON the track, need to change that to him standing on the other side of the rail!!

[dutchboy]

Didn't starters use to have an elevated stand behind the rail and in front of the gate.

[joanied]

Didn't starters use to have an elevated stand behind the rail and in front of the gate.

Yes they did...maybe some tracks still do it that way....I just can't see the logic in standing right on the track.

[sandpit]

I know all the starters in Kentucky use the stand inside the rail...Luke used to frequently send the horses off at Churchill with a, "They're off and running; perfect start from Roger Nagle." (He was the starter at the time.)

[joanied]

I know all the starters in Kentucky use the stand inside the rail...Luke used to frequently send the horses off at Churchill with a, "They're off and running; perfect start from Roger Nagle." (He was the starter at the time.)

As far as I can recall...all the starters stood either inside the rail or up in a stand...who in hell started this standing on the track stuff anyway?

[mylosh]

I'm sorry call me immature but I kinda find it ironic that Boeing sponsors a stakes race in washington, considering the problem that certain employees at that company had with horses in that state

anyways auburn washington is a really nice place