TROTTING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 162, 11 July 1934, Page 18

TROTTING.

ANNUAL CONFERENCE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. . THE GAMING BILL. WIN AND PLACE BETTING. (By Telegraph.—Special to "Star.") WELLINGTON, this day. The annual meeting of the New Zealand Trotting Conference opened this morning, the president, Mr. 11. F. Nicoll, being- in the chair. 11l the course of his address the president said that notwithstanding the fact that the Minister of Internal Affairs, as well as the executive of the conference, were, as a matter of principle, opposed to clubs racing away from their home course, yet a few clubs were, for sufficient reasons shown, permitted to race elsewhere. This permission was difficult to obtain and it was necessary to state that only when there was ample- justification for such a change would any club be granted such indulgence. A club, that could not obtain sufficient local support to justify its existence, necessarily, was not required, and there were several clubs who were urgently pressing their claims for extra days' racing, and who could show good cause why they should receive them. When the Gaining Bill of 1924 was passed this Conference applied for 30 extra days and only 19 days were allotted to them. Those extra days and more were as imperatively sought 'after now as at any previous period, and the executive believed that they should be granted. At present they had applications for 21 extra days, and, without exception, a good and proper case could be put forward for each such application. He trusted that the time would arrive when they might be able to convince the Government that tjjrsif claim tor further consideration was fair and reasonable. Clubs collectively paid in prize money this year £4079 more than last year and there was an increase in totalisator turnover of £12,150. . The Gaming Amendment Bill was withdrawn last session, following the defeat of a motion to make the bill one of urgency. The voting on this measure was worthy of note, seeing that some members of the House who had signified their support of the bill voted against the motion, not because they were opposed to it, but for purely personal reasons, and so the bookmakers continued to flourish and needed reforms were left unaccomplished. The executive believed that a Gaining Bill permitting the working of the double totalisator and the publication of dividends would find very little opposition m the House, and it was to be hoped that Cabinet would proceed with such * revision. New Zealand stood alone to-day in the British Empire in the childish restriction on racing and trotting, and no one other than a fanatic could oppose such a measure as he had mentioned. Consistency ami a regard for individual freedom were what they looked for in the laws of the country, and in the existing gaming regulations they had neither the one nor the other. A speech recently made by the Archbishop of York was rather apropos of the opposition met in some quarters. lie said: "The human mind is finite; its range is very limited. It naturally attaches morn importance to values that are actual to itself. Each cares more about what seems good for him than about goods which he docs not expect to enjoy." Senseless restrictions on liberty in amusements and general conduct reacted with overwhelming force upon the perpetrators, who would be better occupied in tranquilly considering the blessings and beneficence that surround them and in earnestly straining to secure more of them. System of Handicapping. After another year of working the system of handicapping established in 1929 had further established itself, and owners ami trainers found it difficult to believe that they acquiesced in the old system for so many years, remembering that a handicap imposed according to a horse's recorded time, was, in reality, a handicap based solely on the state of the track and the weather. The late Mr. Brinkman used frequently to deplore the system under which he was forced to act, pointing out the absurd inequalities and unfairness occasioned. Messrs. Martin and McKay, the owners of Walla Walla and Auburn Lad, had expressed their opinion that the present New Zealand system of handicapping was the best under which they had raced, and that it was a decided improvement upon any of the Australian regulations. Clubs had benefited considerably by the freedom that owners and trainers now felt in being able to race their horses upon any track, knowing that a win or place penalty would be enforced only according to the value of the performance. The sport had gained greatly by the keener and better racing owing to the regulation whereby a horseman was not penalised for finishing third in a race, or in some fast classes, for running second, so that they could drive home without having to consider what the effect might be upon future events. Altogether there was very general satisfaction among all concerned with handicapping, and though they did hear an occasional criticism. there was no question that they had evolved a scheme which was immeasurably superior to anything previously in existence, and which, despite a few minor drawbacks, had come to stay until some further improvement was determined. The committee in charge of the system had been assiduous in safeguarding its smooth working and all were indebted to them for Clie valuable time and thought they had devoted to their work. The system of win and place betting tested by many clubs this year had aroused considerable controversy, and there was much diversity of opinion as to the wisdom of continuing this innovation ot whether the old vogue of paying first and second dividends only would be in the best interests of the clubs. The totalisator turnover of most clubs showed an increase on the year, but whether that increase was due or partly duo to the win ami place betting one could not prove. In his opinion, unless fields were small, the turnover was increased with the win and .place, although it may not be popular with the bigger investors. There was a motion on the order paper to enforce a uniform betting system on all clubs. In view of the long run of success experienced by the Dominion clubs when operating the 75 per cent and 25 per cent dividends, and the entire absence of friction between all parties engaged or interested in the totalisator result, he would be inclined to support such a motion, but clubs bad such, varying ideas to-day as to the best method of distributing dividends that it would probably be wiser to allow the question to stand over for another season, in order to gain further experience of the different systems that were being tried out. Mr. Nicoll referred to the proposal to grade horsemen and said it had been decided to allow the matter to stand over for another year. He also mentioned the inequity of railway fares and freight in connection with race meetings, and said it was time further action was taken in regard to railway charges.