“There is a fine line between winning and losing…… The Finish Line!!” That line comes from one of the funniest movies about horse racing ever made, “Let it Ride”.
The finish line is the focal point in a race. It is the official end of the event’s competitive flow. However, the event has life after this point with cheering or cussing or disbelief or question or confusion or etc. etc.
Pictured here is a extremely rare three way dead heat which was captured by the finish line camera at the end of the 6th race on June 10th of 1944 at Aqueduct Race Track.
Since racing by nature is about speed, two or more participants reach the finish line at the same time on many occasions.
In 1932, at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California uniform automatic timing and the photo-finish camera were used for the first time. And it was a matter of years before the technology made it’s way into the sport of thoroughbred racing. What the human eye only thought it saw, the finish line camera could prove without question or conflict.
When two or more horses hit the wire (the finish line) at the same time they all share in that position no matter what that position is. Today the camera is digital and the results are viewed instantaneously which is a far cry from the nail biting, brow sweating, nerve wrenching 15-20 minutes of eternity of yesteryear.
“There is a fine line between winning and losing…… The Finish Line!!” That line comes from one of the funniest movies about horse racing ever made, “Let it Ride”.