The Starting Gate

Before the electronic starting gate horses were lined up across the track behind a chalk line and when it seemed all the horses were ready the starter dropped a flag, a bell sounded and the horses took off. Many times a horse was in the process of backing up or the bell and flag startled the horse and caused it to rare up, hence loosing ground right from the start.

Sometimes races would have several miss-starts and cause the event up to a half hour delay. Something had to be done. Several attempts in the twenties and thirties were made to develop a safe and fair starting system but it wasn’t until July of 1939 in Vancouver when Clay Puett’s electronic gate system let 12 horses take off at the same time with a touch of a button. Puett, a horse trainer from Texas, had been working on the idea for 7 years. He understood the need for the horse and jockey to be as comfortable as possible while other horses were loaded. He knew that horses could be trained to accept the confines of the cubicle and could get a fair and safe start since all the gates would open at the same time.

Throughout 1939 Clay Puett promoted his electric gates at Hollywood Park and the first electric start in the U.S. took place at Bay Meadows in San Mateo, CA in the fall of that year. Churchill Downs ordered a 14-stall Puett model, which was used to start the 1941 Kentucky Derby. Many of the original features in Clay Puett’s starting gate are still used today.