Inside the Mothership (aka the Starting Gate) at Pocono Downs!

Last year we took some video inside the starting gate, but this time around we sent track correspondent Gerard Angeli inside the mothership for a more personal take on things.

I, like many of us, live by the TrackPackPA credo: "It's post time somewhere!" And for me, post time was at 6:30PM Friday Night at Pocono Downs in Wilkes-Barre, PA! What better way to kick off my weekend than right from the starting gate (literally)? For two straight races, I was lucky enough to gain access into the starting gate car to see how every race at Pocono Downs starts. A few minutes before post time, I shuffled my way through the thick of the crowd to hitch my first ride onto Pocono Downs' starting gate car.

If you're new to horse racing, in particular harness racing, the mobile starting gate paces the horses before a race starts. The car then folds the gates towards the front and zooms out of the way as the race officially begins.

I arrived at the winners circle and was greeted by two men (the driver and the starting gate operator) crammed into a spaceship-esque Cadillac. Before entering, I was urged to watch my head stepping into the highly modified starting gate car. The inside is quite like a cockpit with controls for the gates and the cars other accessories the operator uses throughout the night. The only difference is that the cockpit is rear facing so the operator can see and communicate with the drivers prior posting the gate. This communication is important in case a driver is in the wrong starting position and can direct the drivers by loud speaker. I was tempted to ask where the 'hyper-speed' button was, but I held back.

After sitting in the swivel chair in the cockpit, I head up front to strike up a conversation with Bob Moran who is Pocono Downs' starter gate operator. Bob, who has been working for the past 8 years at Pocono Downs, still currently races horses in his free time down in Pompano Florida and has been involved with horse racing for the past 40 years. With a history involving four decades at and around the racetrack, I had one standing question for Bob Moran to answer. What was his best moment at the track as a driver/starting gate op. and what has changed in horse racing over the years?

Bob quickly responded that his favorite day as a starter gate operator was when Pocono Downs held the Breeder's Crown just last year in October of 2010. "It was the biggest day in harness racing" where the "best of the best" are brought in to compete for purses totaling in the range of "$7 million".

Bob and went on to discuss how much horse racing has changed throughout his long association with the sport. He seems to really have a passion for the sport of kings and the community that surrounds it. After all, who wouldn’t be pleased with one of the coolest jobs in horse racing?

Seeing the car from the grand stands has its own sentimental value to each of the crowd goers, but what I had experienced was once in a lifetime. For Bob, it was simply another day at work.

Check back in with us for more specials, events, and live harness racing at Pocono Downs!