Trainers’ frustrations over greyhounds failing to adapt to different types of starting traps have again come to the fore in this year’s Derby. Slick breakers were finding themselves flat-footed and the best laid Derby plans were undone in a few milliseconds writes Floyd Amphlett.
Starting traps come in two main styles, those with the sloped front (as at Wimbledon) and the flat fronted boxes as used at many other stadia. Some dogs cannot adapt their trapping to the different designs. The solution is surely standardisation of starting traps, and the man with the solution is Tom Smith – the brains behind the industry standard lure (excluding Harlow) the ‘Swaffham’.
Tom and son Gavin (G&T Hare Systems) have developed the cantilever style, flat fronted boxes which Smith believes offers the best and most consistent start for all races.
He said: “We were originally approached to build some traps for America, where normally traps are rented, not bought. We soon realised that the cantilver boxes, with the straight fronts, are a much better idea than the sloped ones where the dogs have the time to try to get under the traps as they are rising. You can see them doing it in the videos.
“We developed traps that are actually better than the American versions which use old fashioned springs instead of pneumatics. We offered to use the pneumatics out there but there would have been problems with the labour unions over how many men were needed to operate the traps. Instead we built some for Gordon Bissett and put them into Crayford and Monmore, and they are a huge improvement. We also did the two Corals tracks, as well as a slightly cheaper version, using springs, for Henlow. We have kept refining them to a point that we have been able to get the same results with a reduced number of bars of pressure.
“The biggest advantage of the new traps is that they are so quick to rise. If you want to compare how much quicker they are, watch a video of both sets of traps in slow motion and count the number of frames.”
But what about timing? Hove times are now around 30 spots slower than they used to be.
Tom said: “They vary track to track because of how the original traps were set up. But timing isn’t important if you think about it, providing it is consistent once you set the standard. Using the old technology, the timer was supposed to start once the traps fronts reached 45 degrees, though we’ve discovered that a lot of those traps were set incorrectly anyway. Because our traps open quicker, the timer starts sooner and the times are therefore slower. But you can alter the timer how you choose. Hove is around 30 spots slower for the 515m, though we could have altered it to appear the same as the original, if we had been asked to do so.
“But what would that prove? Besides, because of they way they open, the new traps are almost instantaneously at 45 degrees. The simple solution would be for all traps at all tracks to be configured so that the timer kicks in as soon as the trap front moves.”
But is it realistic, or financially achievable, to attempt to re-equip the entire industry with new starting traps?
Tom said: “You don’t need to. In most cases we could adapt what is already there. It might have been a great saving for the tracks when we started making traps from stainless steel – though I’m not sure it was a great business decision for us!
“Years ago, traps would rust and develop ragged edges. When we took the Hove traps back, they were like knew – though their maintenance team must be the best in the industry.
“What we could do in most cases, is refurbish original traps and add the new mechanisms.”
