Meet the man responsible for starting the most exciting two minutes in sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Before a horse is allowed to race at Churchill Downs, it has to prove it can behave in the gate.

Official starter Scott Jordan makes that determination. Horses school in the gate during morning training, each one learning at its own pace.

"So I tell people it's just like taking your kid to school the first time," Jordan said. "The first time they don't want to leave mom, right? But if they go and have fun at school, tomorrow, they still don't want to leave mom, but it's a little easier. And then by the third and fourth day, they're coming over and they're OK with it."

Scott and his team of gate attendants work with horses every morning to make sure they're OK with it.

Young horses start the learning process by simply walking in then walking out as attendants open the gate with their hands. That escalates to the horse eventually breaking from the gate.

After the horse has learned that, the attendants have the horse walk in, stand, and back out so the horse understands that not every trip means a high-energy break. That trains the horse to keep calm in the gate.

Horses are not allowed to start a race without getting approval from Jordan, and horses that act up in the gate during afternoon racing are held out of future races until they school in the gate again.

Here's what the attendant is doing inside that gate:

He walks backward to lead the horse in. The back doors are closed behind the horse.

Then, the attendant pulls himself up on a shoe-width ledge that runs alongside the horse. He keeps the horse calm until the starter presses the button. When the gate opens, the attendant has to kick his front leg up to avoid interfering with the horse or jockey.

Jordan said working inside the gate is like playing football. You get banged around and bruised, but the unpredictability is the appeal.

"That's why we like doing what we do," he shares. "Someone asked me one time,' You've been around, and you've worked the gate a long time and everything. You've probably seen everything.' No, you cannot say that because, as soon as you say that, you'll see something you thought couldn't ever happen."

This will be Scott's 18th Derby as the official starter.

His team will load the entire 20-horse field into the gate in just two minutes.

Then, Scott hits the button to open the gate. He's the man who starts the most exciting two minutes in sports.