HUNDREDTH SECONDS

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 42, 19 February 1931, Page 8

HUNDREDTH SECONDS

! RACE-TIMING BY ELECTRICITY

The Carpentier automatic chronograph, -which has recently been introduced to America by the Aqua Caliente (Mexico) Jockey Club, is the intricate electric timing device that has been employed for several years at the Longchamps and Le Tremblay tracks in France, ;where it has given general satisfaction. Its description and operation is describfcd by the Carpantier Company as follows: "The ljjaehine is essentially based upon *. rotating cylinder. A small electric motor turns the cylinder and assures the fixity of the speed. A sheet of paper is placed around this cylinder. An ink and pen attachment traces a continuous line. This sheet is removed from the cylinder after each race, and it reveals a number of parallel lines that are eventually broken. "The breaks are the result of short circuits produced by the leading horses breaking the thread at the start and the finish of the race, and also wherever are placed ,the short circuits to indicate passage of the leader. at the quarter, half, threequarters, etc. EXACT TIMING. "One .full turn of the cylinder, equals ten seconds. Each second is represented by a line of 50 millimetres length. Thus the exact time of a race can be obtained to a one-hundredth of a second. "Short circuits are automatically produced by the horses during the race at the points and time wherever short circuits have been placed. Iv order to obtain this result an electrical circuit is established by an insulated wive placed around the track underground, the extremities beirig connected with the timers' stand. This is connected to the current and to a registering, machine —a huge clock— placed on the finish line and in full view of the racing audience. It clicks off the hundredths of seconds as the race progresses. "At every quarter, automatic short circuits are placed, mounted on wooden 1 posts one yard above ground. Before the start of each race a light cotton thread is, tied at one end to a fixed point and the other to the apparatus making the short circuit. The leading horse breaks the string, with negligible resistance. The traction breaking the thread cuts off. the current, which is followed immediately by a renewal of the current." PERFECT METHOD. Officals of Aqua Caliente Jockey Club state that they consider the Carpentier method the perfect device for timing races, and, therefore, it is their duty to present it to the public. They also intend to introduce the photographic finish which is in general use on German racecourses. Aqua Caliente and Tijuana, another Mexican racing centre, have done much to advance_ racing in America. The stall Kate was introduced to America at Tijuana. The Australian fibre helmet for jockeys was also first vised at this track. iNcnv it is in almost universal, use. .Tijuana officials were the first to frame the ntnnbcr of the fourth horse to finish. Jockeys' names also were ordered to be given at the- same time as. the entry of horses by Tijuana -officials -and placed on the programme as vital information to which the public are entitled.