HI Karl
As has been said Yak was responsible for the chariot race in Ben Hur. He desgned the stadium, selected the horses and trained Charlton Heston to drive the chariot.
In his book Heston explains that Canutt stood on the chariot behind him as he drove round the circuit. After a while with the horses going reasonably fast Heston shouted back to Canutt that he was getting the hang of driving the team. There was no answer from Yak and as Heston turned around a bend he saw Canutt standing watching him having stepped off the chariot a couple of laps back.
For the chariot race Yak's son Joe doubled for Heston and in the scene where the chariot leaps over another chariot it is Joe that is thrown up in the air and out of the chariot.
Yak who was a stickler for health and safety had told his son to wear a restraining belt for safety but at the last minute Joe had removed it. Later an article said imaging how you would feel watching as a gag you had desgned had ended with your son getting his face ripped off. But miraculaously Joe escaped with minor cuts and bruises.
Regards
Arthur
