Televised Racing Gets Approval

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32038, 12 July 1969, Page 6

Televised Racing Gets Approval

(From Our Own Reporter) WELLINGTON. The New Zealand Racing Conference yesterday came out in favour of a limited amount of live telecasting of races for a trial period.

This will be subject to satisfactory negotiations by the combined committee of the Racing and Trotting Conference with the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation. The galloping meetings for the telecasts would have to meet with the approval of the executive committee of the Racing Conference. The position would be reviewed after a period of 12 months. “I feel it’s time we took our heads out of the sand and did something about live telecasts of some of our races,” the president, Mr R. A. Whyte, said at the annual meeting of the Racing Conference yesterday. Mr Whyte, who is also a vice-president of the Wellington Racing Club, said he thought it was possible to attract more people to the courses by telecasting some feature races, especially a good steeplechase. Mr Whyte explained that it was not proposed to telecast races on more than one day at a three-day meeting and no more than four races would be covered on any one programme.

Mr Whyte said trotting authorities were prepared to go ahead with race telecasts. “If racing does nothing about it we will be in an awkward situation.” Mr N. A. Thomson said Auckland district committee members felt that race telecasts at this stage might be "a bit premature,” and might keep crowds away from the courses.

The introduction of T.A.B. betting had affected attendances in his district by as much as 33 per cent, and they had not recovered.

There was already dissatisfaction with radio coverage of racing and the same problems might be extended to telecasting, Mr Thomson said. He could visualise problems for those Waikato clubs racing on the same day as a meeting at Ellerslie when four races were being telecast.

Mr T. W. Norris (Rangitikei Racing Club) said he did not think country clubs were “bigoted” enough to oppose major clubs in their efforts to improve the image of racing by telecasting races.

When sound broadcasting was introduced fears that attendances would be affected proved quite groundless, said Mr W. R. Stead (Hawke’s Bay Jockey Club). Mr Jal Bennett was assured by the president that any club opposed to the idea of telecasting its races would not be forced into it. To implement its decision yesterday the conference had to rescind a resolution passed by the annual conference in 1963. That resolution stated in part “that it is contrary to the best interests of racing that there be public broadcasting by television of any race either at the time the race is run or at any time during the race day where the race concerned is run.”