At left:Shortly before heading south to this year’s Kentucky Derby, Eric Barthelemy shows a photo finish from a previous race. Churchill Downs recently was remodeled, he said, and cameras there now are perched above the tracks, offering a different photo finish angle.

Mr. Barthelemy is vice president at Teletimer Corporation, the company that records the photo finishes and race times at Triple Crown races, which include the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. The 67-year-old company also has accounts with 80 horse and dog race tracks around the United States and Canada.

“I guess to some people, my job seems interesting. To me, it’s just a job,” said Mr. Barthelemy, who, because of the nature of his labors, has the luxury of living anywhere in the country. He and his wife, Marilee, who works at Mackinac Straits Hospital, chose to live in Brevort to be close to family.

He said Teletimer offers both the photo finish and the timing service. A race track can use either or both.

The photo finish uses custom, high-speed digital cameras operated by software designed by Teletimer. One camera is controlled by an operator, who actually presses the button. Some race tracks hire a person for the position and in other cases, Teletimer staffs the position.

Photographs of a race finish are a series of consecutive shots beginning just before the horses cross the finish line, however, if the photographer activates the camera late, the computer system will take over, ensuring the race is captured. In fact, Mr. Barthelemy said they also have built in protection at each track, with multiple cameras and computers set up, along with battery backups in case there is a power failure.

The race timing system displays finish times in one-tenth, one-hundredth, and one-thousandth of a second, for each horse.

“We’ve never had any problems,” he said. “If the equipment didn’t work, we’d be in a lot of trouble.”

He speculated that if the company had problems, it might lose a contract with a race track, so they simply make sure the equipment always is working and backups are in place.

The only time he can remember people got a little nervous was when power was lost at the Pimlico track in Maryland while a race was in progress. He said his backup battery kicked in and the race was declared official. The betting company at the track had a diesel generator in place, so all bets placed on the race were safe as well.

Mr. Barthelemy said his company also sets up television and production control rooms at race tracks to handle simulcasting. He said that some race tracks will bring in 30 to 40 simulcasts from race tracks around the country.

This is his busy time, said Mr. Barthelemy, because everyone wants their track up and running before the Kentucky Derby takes place.

Mr. Barthelemy will be heading to the Kentucky Derby, as he does every year. He watches the race from a booth in the judges’ stand.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” he said. “A view you would not believe.”

Next to his booth is celebrity row, where movie and rock stars view the race. He said they often come over to his area to learn about race timing and the photo finish process.

Mr. Barthelemy said he just fell into his job. When he was 18, he got a job at a track in Florida through his father. Then he did everything he could to learn all that he could, taking advantage of opportunities and working long hours so he could move up and develop a career.

At first, the job required him to move around. He lived in Wisconsin, New Jersey, and twice in Florida, but now he drives to tracks in Wisconsin and Michigan, or he flies out of Pellston Regional Airport for longer trips.

Mr. Barthelemy said there was a big boom in horse racing in the 1980s and 1990s, when many new tracks were built. He said there is a nice little track in Muskegon and the world trotting derby is held in DuQuoin, Illinois.

“Trotters are huge in Illinois, drawing large crowds,” he said.

Now, Mr. Barthelemy spends most of his time getting race tracks ready for the season, and then, through the year, he handles troubleshooting and equipment upgrades.

His company, which is based in New Jersey, is the largest of its kind in the country. Race tracks lease their equipment and the equipment needs to be maintained. He said the company makes the newest technology available and upgrades continuously so race tracks have the best available photographic and timing systems.