It's not unusual for a child to grow up with a fervent desire to be a jockey or horse trainer.
Maybe even a veterinarian.
But Hector Soler's young daydreams involved an often overlooked racetrack job that gets little attention, except for the wrong reasons.
While attending the races at El Nuevo Comandante as a child in his native Puerto Rico, Soler took in all of the excitement wrapped into a day at the races and developed a rather unique aspiration. He vowed to himself that he would one day be part of a starting gate crew and become a head starter.
Yes, a starter.
"I loved all of the colors of the silks and the blinkers," Soler said, "but I fell in love with all of the action that I saw at the starting gate. The more racing I would see, the more I became interested in what was happening at the starting gate and wanted to be one of the guys who worked there."
It may not have been a typical ambition, but it has surely led to an uplifting tale of someone whose hopes have been fulfilled and is merrily enjoying every minute of it. Decades later after those childhood days in Puerto Rico, just like trainers Todd Pletcher and Mark Casse or jockey John Velazquez, Soler is working at his dream job and is in the midst of a Hall of Fame career as the head starter for the New York Racing Association.
Only last month, the 47-year-old Soler, who is hailed as the first Black or Puerto Rican starter at a major American track, was inducted into Puerto Rico's Sports Hall of Fame for his achievements.
"To be inducted into the Hall of Fame made me so proud. I could not believe how well people treated me there and how happy they were for me," said Soler, who flashed a wide smile in recalling how he was honored by the speaker of Puerto Rico's House of Representatives and at a Hipodromo Camarero (formerly El Nuevo Comandante) ceremony during his short early July stay in the United States territory. "I don't talk about black and white stuff because I treat all people the same, but I take so much pride in doing my job knowing it is a first for someone like me and perhaps I can inspire people."
The importance of Soler's new job cannot be overstated in terms of inclusion and opportunities for minorities. Yet to have a person as charismatic and upbeat in the position as Soler, it also helps to shine a bright light on a facet of racing that's vital but receives no acclaim.
The job Soler and members of the NYRA starting gate crew perform on a daily basis at Saratoga Race Course and the two downstate tracks could be the most misunderstood job at the organization's three venues. Or the most underappreciated.
To NYRA senior vice president of operations and capital projects Glen Kozak, it's the toughest job on the racetrack.
"I wouldn't want to do that job. You basically have to climb into a three-foot cage with a 1,000-pound animal who may not want to be in there," Kozak said. "You need patience and ability to do that job and it's a skill set not everyone wants. They have the toughest job on the track no question about it."
Named as the starter in December, Soler has worked with the NYRA starting gate crew for about 23 years, including two years when he was a part-time employee and did double duty also working for trainer Joe Orseno's stable.
In realizing his childhood ambition, Soler quickly learned there was much more involved in being a starter or gate crew member than holding a horse or pushing a button.
On one level, when a field loads and breaks smoothly, the job seems easy, and like an umpire or referee who calls a good game, few fans realize they are there.
Yet there are also many times some sort of an issue, be it minor or large, pops up. One horse balks at entering the starting gate. Another acts up inside the starting gate, causing the handlers, not the jockeys, to loudly yell out "no, no, no, no" to catch Soler's attention and delay the start.
And all the while, Soler has to scan everything happening in the starting gate and at the precise moment when there is calm, he has to push the button that cuts off the magnets which keep the stalls closed and allows all of the starting gates to spring open at the same instant.
"On television it looks pretty and seems very easy," Soler said, "but that is the result of a lot of hard work."
For Soler and his 16-person team at Saratoga, which includes his top assistants Daniel Gutierrez and Justin Pringle, the long and often demanding hours of work they put in to prepare for a card of the racing largely goes unnoticed by fans.
For a couple of hours in the morning, there will be schooling of unruly horses or gate works. That task presents one type of challenge on a sunny, cool morning at Saratoga. It is something altogether different on a rainy day or in the bone-chilling cold of winter for morning works at Belmont Park or the races in the afternoon at windy Aqueduct Racetrack.
"Sometimes your hands and feet get numb or frozen while you are out there. You work in the rain and it can be very difficult in the cold when you have morning schooling for 2 1/2 hours with no break and little protection from the elements," Soler said. "But we are used to it and we do it with pride."
Injuries are a constant and inevitable threat.
Soler said he has undergone surgery six times due to injuries at the starting gate, most of which happened in the days before helmets and flack jackets became standard pieces of equipment.
Once while he was holding a horse in the starting gate, its neck turned and Soler suffered a dislocated shoulder. He suffered an ACL injury while trying to push a horse into the starting gate. Too many times to count, he has been knocked to the ground when a horse reared up. Once while closing a stall door, a horse kicked it open and broke his elbow.
"We all know we are going to get hurt. It's just a question of when," Soler said. "Yet when you love the horses and love your job you don't think about it. While the adrenaline keeps you going, there are some days I wake up in the morning and I'm so achy and stiff. I'm 47, but I feel like I'll be walking with a cane when I'm 60 because my body is so sore."
Soler's job contains less physical risk these days as he stands alongside the starting gate while inside the inner rail and prepares to start the race. Yet he's in the direct line of criticism when there's an incident at the starting gate or a horse stumbles coming out of the gate.
"I didn't realize the pressure and responsibilities that goes with being the starter. You have to deal with trainers, owners, the public, NYRA. Trainers might call to ask about what happened in the starting gate to their horse or maybe I'll have to call them to tell them their horse needs gate schooling. It's a big responsibility and I take it very seriously," Soler said. "But I know I'm only as good as the last time I start a race. If I do a good job everyone is happy but if someone stumbles coming out of the gate, or if a horse rears his head at the start, people believe I did a bad job. I'm learning how to live with that pressure and responsibility but it's hard because you want to do your job right every time. Sometimes when a horse stumbles, I feel like I failed."
There are other important behind-the-scenes facets of his job.
Soler and his team must keep notes each time a horse acts up, so the crew can handle it better the next time it runs. Knowing that a certain horse will only enter the gate when the front doors are open or understanding how to coax a temperamental runner into the gate can eliminate problems and delays during the loading of horses.
Given the inherent pressures of the job, tempers and personalities have also been known to come into play and it falls to Soler to maintain harmony among his team.
"Not only do you need to have good horsemanship, but you have to work together as a team at the starting gate. There's an equine and human side to the job and Hector has made a very good transition to the job," Kozak said. "He can balance personalities, and with Hector coming up through the ranks and knowing all aspects of the job, I've found he's a great communicator. He's not afraid to pick up the phone and talk about a problem. It makes it easier for all of us to work with him and his crew."
Soler was 11 years old when his family moved from Vega Baja to Philadelphia in 1985 and racetrack visits shifted from El Nuevo Comandante to Philadelphia Park (now Parx Racing). A few years later, he began working for Orseno as a groom and hot walker at the Pennsylvania racetrack.
When Soler moved to New York in the late 1990s to care for Orseno's NYRA string, his desire to work with the gate crew reached a fever pitch. Through the help of his friend, Frankie Delgado, Soler was introduced to NYRA's veteran starter Bob Duncan, who was intrigued with Soler's enthusiasm for working at the starting gate.
One day in 1998, Duncan was shorthanded due to an injury and a vacation and reached out to Soler to fill in. Duncan limited Soler to loading horses for a while, but liked what he saw in the energetic new worker.
For two years, Soler worked part-time with the starting gate crew until he was finally hired on a full-time basis in 2000.
For the next two decades, Soler was an integral part of the team, working as an assistant starter for 17 years until opportunity knocked last year and Soler was chosen to become the head starter. The hiring shattered racial and ethnic barriers and allowed his experience and deep knowledge of the job and affable personality to create a cohesive work unit.
"It's not just me. It's a team effort. Everything we do reflects well on all of us," Soler said. "So far we are doing great at Saratoga. Guys are putting in 110%. We have a great group."
Beyond that, it's a group led by a man who is indeed breaking down barriers and living the dream that started as a child and has now brought him a measure of fame—even if that dream was not what most people would expect from a starry-eyed youngster.
