Starts at trotting

Press, 27 November 1982, Page 14

Starts at trotting

Sir,—On Friday, November 12, a friend and I attended the race meeting held by the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club at Addington. We have never seen such a disgusting start to a race as that which occurred in the New Zealand Trotting Free-For-All. When horses of open class do not get a chance to race evenly and fairly against one another because the starter causes them to lose ground at the start it makes you wonder why the horses start at all. One of the best racecourses and some of the best standardbred racing in the world should not be marred by' bad starters. Lately it seems that at least one race per meeting at Addington is disrupted by bad starting. The trainers and drivers have to account for bad starting of horses and we think it is time starters did too. — Yours, etc., ROBYN NORRIE, G. MAYOR. • November 15, 1982.

[Mr T. H. Davis, secretarymanager of the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club, replies: “At an inquiry subsequent to the New Zealand Trotting Free-For-All it was established that the normal procedure for mobile starts had been followed by the starter. The accepted procedure of blowing a whistle three

times when the gate was about to move had been heard by the drivers of Kiltie Boy, McShane and Cal Brydon who were in position at the start, but had apparently not been heard by the drivers of Kabase and Brother James.”]