Tighter Qualifying Times

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30468, 16 June 1964, Page 5

Tighter Qualifying Times

Qualifying times for maiden pacers have been tightened one second by the executive of the New Zealand Trotting Conference. The amendment, which was passed at a meeting of the executive in Christchurch last Friday, will come into effect on August 1. The qualifying time at Addington will now be 3min 23sec. At Alexandra Park,

Hutt Park, Cambridge, Forbury Park, Kaikoura, Kumeu, Manawatu, Pukekohe and Claudelands it will be 3min 25sec.

The qualifying time at all other courses will be 3mln 28sec.

Rule 8 of the regulations has also been amended to provide for a minimum number of eight starters in a qualifying trial, and not more than the number allowed to start on the front mark.

In the past it has been possible to start an additional five runners from a second line. Other decisions made at Friday’s meeting were:— Nine • race programmes: Clubs running nine-race programmes may now use the extra race for any class of pacer or trotter. Formerly the extra race had to be restricted to maiden or first improver pacers or trotters. As a result several metropolitan clubs would not include such slow-class events on their programmes and continued to run only eight races each day.

Annual conference.—The Minister of Internal Affairs (Mr Seath) has agreed to open the annual meeting of the conference in Dunedin on Wednesday, July 8.

Delegate: The president (Mr W. H. Roche), of Westport, will represent the conference at the annual meeting of the Inter-Dominion Trotting Conference in Melbourne on June 24.

Stud book: A special subcommittee has been appointed to go into ways of extending and improving Volume XVII of the “New Zealand Trotting Stud Book,” which is to be published shortly.