Procedure At The Start

Is there anyone out there who understands the 'protocol' that is employed at the start of a thoroughbred horserace in South Africa?

For quite some time now I have been getting increasingly irritated at the seemingly lacksadasical manner in which the process is being handled. Some centres appear totally incapable of even attempting to start a race on time - with the result that the overall programme very quickly overlaps into other races being broadcast.

Here's what I generally observe on Tellytrack:

Usually, bot not always, the runners leave the ring is some sort or order (or disorder!). After about 400 metres they break into a saunter and drift down to the start where they seem to take an incredible amount of time to get ready to race - having circled for up to 5 minutes or longer.

Usually some sort of activity starts only AFTER the advertised start time has already passed. Surely loading could commence, say, a minute before the official starting time? This could easily be adjusted according to the size of the field.

I understand that horses are usually supposed to be loaded in three broad groups according to their tractibility history but when last did you see more than two being loaded simultaneously? ( Is there any reason why we do not try the American outrider system? The lead horses appear to settle the runners and they walk virtually from the parade into the stalls where they are sent on their way).

Where horses are reluctant to load some pretty crude brute force is applied almost immediately. Some of the horses are propelled into the stalls with such force it is no wonder they burst through the front or become even more agitated.

Although the UK races are not without their difficult horses their average loading time seems a lot faster and more effortless than ours. They have a far higher number of horses that go in totally unassisted. I notice that on the turf tracks they also tend to keep the runners closer to the stalls when loading whereas ours sometimes seem as far as 50m away from the pens when loading commences.

Given the relatively high level of difficulty we seem to experience ( and I'm excluding young 2 yr olds from this comment ) I should like to pose other questions :

Are starting stall certificates being properly policed?
What kind of handling is the horse getting at home that makes it so unmanageable?

I wonder if a little too much sloppiness is being hidden behind the old 'highly strung thoroughbred' number when a little more schooling would be in order.

I would be interested to hear opinions from those who clearly understand the process better than I do. But as we claim to be marketing to an international audience it's no great advert for the management of the event.

Garrick,
The main difference that I've noticed is that here our horses "mingle around" at the back of the stalls before loading, whereas in UK they stand in front of the stalls and are then individually led behind and loaded straight away, and as you say the UK loading process seems to be very much quicker. I wonder if there is a horse psycological factor that gives the UK method an advantage??

My comment here is that we appear to go down early and spend a long time at the start, in the UK, they basically get to the start and then go behind and in?
I find the French the worst for loading, but have no stats, plus we have big Henry, who just picks the horse up and throws it in.

its good that international coverage is available in SAF so procedure and conduct can be compared. Can SAF learn something from their professional brothers abroad and do something about the poor quality of pre-race tv? copy the UK/USA's coverage - look at how they do it, the information passed on by presenters, the lighting, the loading etc etc and adjust!

Without a doubt the two venues that i believe have the most polished process are Nad Al Sheba and Singapore... in Dubai ONE minute before the stated starting time, the first horse is led up to the starting stall... in Cape Town... once the due time has arrived, the horses are only then sorted to load... so even if loading fast ... there is a minimum minute or two lost..