I added the following code to the asp.net-mvc site.master page to ensure that this image is loaded in advance and cached (since I use it on my entire site):

$(document).ready(function () {
var x = new Image();
x.src = "/content/images/ajax-loader.gif";
I assume that this code will force you to preload and cache this ajax download image, but when I launch the page linking to this image, I still see it for a few seconds. Below is an example of a jqgrid boot div

which uses this code for loadtext:
$.jgrid = $.jgrid || {};
$.extend($.jgrid,{
defaults : {
recordtext: "View {0} - {1} of {2}",
emptyrecords: "No records to view",
loadtext: "Loading Data ...<img src='/Content/Images/ajax-loader.gif' />",
pgtext : "Page {0} of {1}"
},
before my actual ajax boot image is shown below:

- , , ? ?
?