INTERVAL TOO LONG.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 186, 8 August 1930, Page 11

INTERVAL TOO LONG.

PERIOD BETWEEN RACES.

TIME SHOULB BE REDUCED

MAINTAINING PUBLIC INTEREST

Now that the new racing season has just commenced it would be a very wise and popular move if racing clubs in the Dominion reduced the interval between their races, for at present it is much too long for the average racegoer, and instead of the sport becoming a pleasure it develops'into a very tiresome business for patrons.

Practically all the programmes in New Zealand provide for eight races per day, against six in Australia and England, where the totalisator is also in use. The first event is timed to start between 11.45 a.m. and noon in the spring and summer time, according to the particular club, and the time of the last race varies from 5.5 p.m. to 5.15 p.m., or perhaps n little later, the period between the races being 45 minutes. At Randwiek the first race is timed to start at 1 p.m., and the six races are disposed of shortly after 4.45 p.m., while in England (take Derby Day, at Epsom) the programme commenced at 1.34 p.m. and the last race was started at 5.2 p.m. On the Continent, where they have the totalisator. the races are run at half-hour intervals.

After a race is decided in New Zealand there is a delay before the horse for the next race make their appearance in the birdcage and after they have done their preliminaries there is a very much longer period before the field is dispatched. The public find this very irksome, and, further, such a long wait at the post is not iu the best interests of valuable horses. Surely if the interval betwecen the races was reduced by five to seven minutes it would not make much difference to a club, for the public would soon learn to bet more quickly. From half to threequarters of an hour would be saved on the day, and the races, being run at more frequent intervals, would make the proceedings much more attractive and interesting. At present the pubic have too much time on their hands, and the sport lags, with the result that .many who would be consistent patrons rarely attend, or-perhaps do not go at all.

. Some clubs are too prone to keep their totalisator open much longer than the stipulated time. They are after the last pound from the public, and are sacrificing the sport to the totalisator. They want to be able to give large stakes, larger than the Rules of Racing provide, and in consequence use the totalisator for all they are worth... The times of races arc not adhered to, and so the inteival between the races is greatly prolonged, to the dissatisfaction of many true lovers of the sport. The question is one that should he seriously considered, for there is uo doubt that a shorter interval_ could oe arranged, and the large majoritv of patrons would be much bettel pleased.