TROTTING Change In Addington Date To Avoid Clash

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30811, 24 July 1965, Page 6

TROTTING Change In Addington Date To Avoid Clash

A situation which had raised strong objections, particularly from trotting clubs in Otago, was satisfactorily settled on Thursday when the dates committee of the New Zealand Trotting Conference revised a decision about dates for next season.

The date in question had been October 5, the day on which the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club had been granted permission to use its extra totalisator permit. Because officials of some clubs felt that racing at Addington on October 5 would affect their own meetings the dates committee has since reviewed their decision. The New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club’s meeting will now be held on Monday, October 18.

The New Zealand Metro- I poilitan Trotting Club had I originally applied to race on October 19 to avoid a clash 1 with dubs with established ] dates catering for the same i class of horses. But the dates committee 1 felt that a meeting at Adding- i ton on October 19 might have I an adverse affect on the Grey- < mouth meeting the following i night so that date was not ' granted. Complete satisfaction was 1 expressed by Mr R. W. Saun- < ders, president of the New i Zealand Metropolitan Trotting 1 Club, when asked to comment yesterday on the dates com- ’ mittee’s decision. 1

Dress Rehearsal “1 am very pleased that we will now be able to race so much nearer to the New Zealand Cup meeting,” he said. “We will be able to frame a programme which will be a dress rehearsal for Cup-day “We will not be able to put on a free-for-all for the cup horses but the programme will include an event which will enable the winner to either qualify for the cup or be one win away from cup class. This race, to be run over a mile and five furlongs, will cater for horses assessed on 2-12 and not faster than 2-11. Mr Saunders said he was also pleased with the datechange for his club had not wanted to compete against the Banks Peninsula or Forbury Park Trotting Clubs. Both these clubs will race on October 9. Dunedin Protest One of the strongest protests received by the Conference against the decision to allow the Metropolitan Club to race on October 5 came from Dunedin. The Forbury Park Trotting Club maintained that it would be most affected if a meeting was held at Addington on that date. This club relies on Canterbury trainers to fill its fields. There was a meeting at Ashburton on October 2. This could seriously affect the Forbury Park meeting for horses near cup class were catered

for in the Ashburton Flying Stakes. The following Saturday Forbury’ Park had to compete wilth the Banks Peninsula meeting. Although this club had raced in opposition to Forbury on the same day for several years, there had not been any real bother in the clashing of classes. But next season it was proposed to provide a £lOOO race for the faster class trotters at the Banks Peninsula meeting and this could have a marked effect on similar races at Forbury Park. If the Metropolitan Club was permitted to race between the Ash burton and Banks Peninsula meetings, officials of the Forbury Park Club feared that their meet-

ing would be by-passed altogether. Trainers would avoid transport costs to Dunedin when there were three local meetings, all in one week. Telegram Sent On Wednesday the secretary of the Forbury Park Club, Mr L. Clark, sent the following telegram to the New Zealand Trotting Conference. “Strong objection to Metropolitan Club racing on October 5. “Impossible for my club to race on following Saturday. “Owners and trainers will naturally support local clubs to save heavy transport costs. Three meetings close to Christchurch in one week at this time of the season will definitely have a serious affect on my club. “You are fully aware that horses have to be drawn from the Canterbury pool, which is very limited at this time of the'year and would not allow for sufficient horses, after racing on Saturday and Tuesday, to be available on the following Saturday.