TOTALISATOR TRENDS

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 106, 31 October 1936, Page 22

TOTALISATOR TRENDS

RECENT INCREASES

BEST SEASON FOR YEARS

For the past six months there have been few racing "or trotting meetings at which an increase in investments has not been recorded on the previous year's figures, and in the majority of cases the improvement has been large. It is therefore obvious that a review of totalisator turnovers for this period will show a marked increase in aggregate over' the preceding' year. When the totals are taken out the increase proves; to be even more substantial than might have been anticipated. The trend : towards rapid improvement really began at the beginning of last season, when an increase of nearly £100,000 was recorded in the racing and trotting .turnovers for the period from the commencement of the season to the Christmas and New Year holidays. Over those near five months (excluding the holiday period) £1,188,139, was handled in aggregate at the various meetings, racing and -trot- - ting, compared with £1,091,252 the previous year. ' In 1932, which marked the nadir of the depression in the sports, the sum handled during the ■ period • before the holidays was £983,316. ...... CHRISTMAS AND EASTER. The rate of increase was still steadier during the last Christmas-New Year holidays. Over those ten days the totalisator handled £709,236, which was an improvement of more than £100,000 on the £602,328 put through the previous year, though not quite so high a percentage increase on the aggregate (£587,731) for the holiday period in the 1932-33 season. Following the New Year holidays the rate ■■ of increase continued, but it

was not so high as in the. holiday period. At the Easter vacation, however, the rate became even greater than at the Christmas-New Year.: period. At Easter the.percentage^im.provement was 24 for.racing and.2l for trotting, whereas at the* Oiristmas-: New Year it had been only;. 20 and: 12 ; respectively. The Easter increases were: the besiLin aggregate ior any, period over the last ten years. A sum of £390,089- was. put : .through the machines, as against V£315,337 q the previous year :and"£285,321 in 1&m. .. In the six months odd since Easter the rate of increase then shown has not only been maintained, but during the first three months of the present season it has been improved to a betterment of very near 40 per cent. in the two sports. A big factor towards this substantial improvement has been the greatly increased turnovers in the trotting sport, and also at the metropolitan racing,, fixtures.. The totalisator returns at most meetings are now larger than in 1931M1, which was the first year of diminishing turnovers, but they are still short of the figures for 1928-29 and 1929 : 30, which, with the exception of the immediate post-war yeai-s, when conditions were wholly abnormal were the peak years. TfflS SEASON'S FIGURES. It is 'not possible to give all the figures reviewed in these comparisons, but it. is of interest to compare ? the figures to date for. the present season with those of the lowest year (1932), and also with those of two years ago, when racing and trotting -were definitely on the road, back to more prosperous days. The f qllowing table gives the comparison:—

Totals , £206,861 £213,128 £323,490 The table reveals the steady progress of the improvement, and it also discloses how the sport of trotting was later in recovering than the sport of racing. Indeed, if fuller figures could be given in the space available, it would be seen that the trotting clubs did not actually begin to enjoy marked inceases. in turnovers till last Easter. Though a calculation has not been actually made, a cursory comparison of recent turnovers with last season's tends to show that the percentage of improvement in trotting is at present higher than in racing, the first time this hasibeen the case for many seasons. • ,' The figures for the past few months are naturally, most gratifying, not only for those who have the interests-of these sports of the people at heart, but also in a community sense, as they mean that the people clearly now have a greater spending power. The totalisator has always been regarded as a fairly accurate, barometer of tiie

people's power to spend. While totalfsator investments are increasing, the turnovers in other spheres usually also improve, and there probably exists a very close correlation between the betterment in race turnovers and that in business turnovers. It is therefore earnestly to be hope_d that totalisator investments will continue their upward trend, and that when the next review of the figures is taken it will be found that the improvement shown during the last six months has been at least maintained, if not bettered.

RACE MfctaiHW; 1932. . 1934.7 19SB.; Poverty Bay Hunt " 3,|b ' .2,512. ||0| Canterbury 69,|78 : ??£j5. Pakuranga Hunt ..• 20,337 -1^ j?'"| :3 ifS:f i A^Sste" 45.BT3 .81,546 42,587 S^.:-a S l:i!8 K °"!; -.. ■.«!?« . e.224 4,nis Auckland ...... 46,848 44,131 60,3,6 •fMasterton 6,0154 5,9o2 12,flal South Canterbury . 8,244 G,463 15,120 +WelUnirtott 40.3SG 62,632. 133,i»62 Gore lG.OS!).. 21,864 33,130 Waverley 4,827 7,334 11,138 Waikato Hunt .,'.. 12,341 17,928 24,906 waipawa 5,548 4,454 7,012 £orth Canterbury . 5,535 ,9,618 11,377 Totals ." £334,433 £459,871 £714,817 *On» day less tills year. . |0ne day more this year. TROTTING MEETINGS. ' 1932. ■ 1934. 1936.' £ £ £ ! Metropolitan .... 62,628 72,269 102,435 Auckland 21,164 13,787 . 20,919 Xew Brighton .... 14,326 14,182 21,192 Wellington 12,127 11,625 . 19,627 Waikato 9,752- 9,292 14,852 Jtethven 7,803 8,601 16,646 Xew Brighton .... 14,089 13.464 24,376 Auckland 37,883 36,043 48,138 Clamant 13,769 19,049 29,500 Greymouth 13,320 14.807 16,105