OK. Talked to people at Santa Anita. Surprisingly, hardly anybody there knows what it is or what purpose it serves. Don from the Racing office did some digging for me and talked with other employees who believe, and were told it was originally used when they had a "flag man" up there.
The track, as it is now, opened in 1934 but it wasn't until 1940 that they obtained a magnetic starting gate. Most likely, races were all started by flag prior to that.
Since turf racing was of much less of an occurrence then compared to now, they might have continued with the flagman start on the Hill for many years thereafter. Also, it would be prohibitive to haul the gate up there for one race.
From what I was told, the flagman was positioned so, that when he raised the flag, it appeared to the grandstand in the yellow circle. When the red center disappeared from the yellow circle, the race was off.
It appears this is a historical artifact that most people aren't aware of. It seems to serve no purpose, but is yearly maintained and kept painted and looking good. If so, this is a great tradition and should be known.
Don said he'd call me if he gets any new info and great thanks to him.
|
01-11-2019, 03:27 PM
Threaded Mode