![]() ![]() “This is much more complex than the average person thinks,” Marcketti said while puffing on a cigarette during a short break. When that happens, clockers record the horse’s performance and give a physical description to facilitate getting the name at the end of the day. Also, they each time about 160 horses a day, making it difficult to keep track of names. They always follow the horse to the wire, but sometimes can’t name it since their view is frequently distorted. Things get so hectic that often clockers don’t have time to get a horse’s name after it’s timed. “Hey Papo!” Fontaine screamed into the mouthpiece of his headphone while chomping gum, “what ya give him?”Īfter informing the exercise boy of his thoroughbred’s performance, Fontaine asked him for names of other horses from his stable that worked out. “How’d I do John?” asked a man in gray jeans and a red shirt as he pulled the reins of the restless thoroughbred beneath him. A lot of them approach the window after being timed. It’s located trackside, which allows him to communicate directly with horsemen. Fontaine works across the track in a blue shack surrounded by trees. She also writes the numbers that clocker John Fontaine yells through the intercom on the small table in front of her. The clockers overlook the track, and Burtch sits in a back corner where she records on a yellow legal pad the numerous times that are sporadically shouted by her three co-workers. Three clockers-Gary Nelson, Emilio (Papo) Aglesias and Robin Marcketti-along with tab writer Kathleen Burtch work in the open-air booth that often shakes when the wind blows. The results are published in the Racing Form and used for handicapping. Most don’t even realize what goes on in the cubicle above, where the action begins two hours before they’re even allowed on the premises.įrom there horses are officially timed during morning workouts. The avid gamblers lounge around studying the Racing Form, also known as the Bible, paying little attention to the action on the track in front of them. Inside, on the dirt track, thoroughbreds gallop and occasionally sprint during early-morning workouts, but it’s hardly noticed by the early birds who come when the gates open at 7:30 a.m. The major activity for now in the dark, cool morning is among workers scattered around the Inglewood horse racing facility sweeping, cutting grass and delivering stacks of Daily Racing Forms. ![]()
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