A starting gate at Santa Anita Racetrack, ca.1950

Photograph of a starting gate at Santa Anita Racetrack, ca.1950. A line of jockeys and their horses is visible in front of the starting gate positioned on a dirt track. To the left of the gate, four additional horses can be seen straped to it; these horses seem to serve as a the gate's support to immobilize it when the racing horses are out*. A large crowd of people is observable behind a white fence, which extends along the track. Behind the track, on a grassy field, what appears to be a scoreboard is noticeable with numbers on it. To its left, towards the back, what seems to be a garden of flowers is viewable, which forms an abstract design in the middle of the field. The racetrack further continues in the back while mountains and trees serve as the backdrop.; *"Actually, the Clydesdale horses were used to pull the starting gate before the introduction of tractors. The gate had to be quickly moved off the racetrack before the field made the lap around the track and headed down the stretch for the finish line. The Clydesdale horses pulled the gate into position before each race, then off the track, into the "gap" as soon as the horses were off in each race" -- Mary Forney, a Digital Archive's patron.