TROTTING Greymouth club has best season

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32663, 20 July 1971, Page 8

TROTTING Greymouth club has best season

The Greymouth Trotting Club’s venture in catering for fast-class pacers and trotters this season has proved most successful, with combined totalisator turnover being almost double that of 1968-69.

Although programmes for the club’s meetings in 1971-72 have not yet been framed, officials intend including similar races.

During the present season on-course betting on the club’s four meetings reached <5287,958, against $192,137 the previous season and $160,785 in 1968-69. Off-course the increase was even more pronounced, proving that a double leg including “name” horses is much more attractive as a betting medium than any slow-class field. The total from this

course was $975,323.50, against $700,733 the previous year and $481,615.50 in 1968This season’s total investments of $1,263,281.50 represented a worth-while increase over the $897,870 of 1969- and the $642,398.50 of the previous year. The Greymouth club will race on a Monday and' Wednesday on October 18 and 20, on Friday, March 3, and on a Saturday and Monday, April 8 and 10. It is expected that the club will cater for top-class trotters in October and invitation class pacers in April. The March meeting is a fortnight before the Easter meeting at Addington Raceway and it is possible a restricted free-for-all will be included as the feature event. This race would probably be of a limit suitable to qualify j a horse for the Easter Cup.

Stakes up Stakes paid by the Greymouth club this season reached record proportions of $39,210, a big jump from the $27,500 paid in 1969-70 and not far from double the $22,290 paid in 1968-69. Greymouth, and other country clubs, have been criticised for including races for fast-class horses in their programmes at the expense of races for slow-class pacers and trotters. > Few clubs can equal Greymouth’s record of catering for maiden pacers in the last few years. In spite of the inclusion of four races for fastclass horses, a record num- , ber of 17, 2:20 pacing events were run this season, against 16 such events in 1969-70 and ! 12 the previous season. The Greymonth club has ' run 44 races for maiden pacers in the last three seasons, a total unlikely to have been exceeded by any other club. This certainly justifies the club’s claim that it is enentiled to give its patrons an occasional glimpse of topclass pacers and trotters in : action. The club found that sup-

port for minor races on programmes this season was much stronger than in the past. More leading trainers and drivers were seen in action on the course, this being reflected in support, both on and off-course.

The club hopes to attract even more owners and trainers to meetings in the coming season. Sixteen new boxes and yards have been completed, and more are planned for the ftuure so that all visiting horses can be stabled on the course in conditions of a high standard.