RACING "Committees working satisfactorily”

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33279, 17 July 1973, Page 8

RACING "Committees working satisfactorily”

V\ hether judicial committees should be comprised of amateurs, as at present, or be professional panels appointed by the Racing Conference has always been a controversial subject.

One man who knows more about the subject than most and is well satisfied with the present system of judicial control is Mr P. J. Reid, senior stipendiary steward to the Racing Conference.

In his report to the annual conference in Wellington last Friday Mr Reid told delegates that during the year judicial committees, in the great majority, had acted conscientiously and more meanfully in most cases than in the past. He said that there had been one or two instances which had come to official notice of judicial committee members deciding on matters in which they had interests. This was a clear breach of natural justice, which was specifically prohibited under the Rules of Racing, and it could invalidate the whole proceedings. Mr Reid said that in the cases to which he referred the interest pertained to betting, which was the most common of such infractions, but it could relate to other sources. "In any event, a member should know whether he is personally so affected and if in doubt he should consult with the others on the committee,” he said. “That appeals against the judicial committees’ decisions have been less than in the past, and that the great majority have been dismissed, most with the forfeiture of the deposit and some with costs against the appellants, bears support to the claim that the judicial system is working satisfactorily,” said Mr Reid. CLASHES INEVITABLE

In discussing the year’s racing in general he said that in one respect the volume of betting had been a bonanza for the majority of clubs but one or two clubs in the; northern areas as the result of new permits had experienced quite serious set-backs in their betting returns because of date clashes. If a realistic balance was to be brought to the date structure, particularly in the long term, regional date clashes and increased competition was inevitable. Mr Reid said that the ramifications of the issue were widespread and complex but the situation, sooner or later, would have to be confronted.

“In the actual racing there were more horses to have raced and more races, including those of a special feature type, and greater sponsorship and higher stakes than ever before,” said Mr Reid. “Such a climate is surely healthy but its potential is inhibited without a feasible programme, particularly for the major events, designed on a district or inter-district basis, but so that the development of a national pattern is reasonably protected.

Up to June 6 the number of horses which raced this season totalled 4222, an increase of 240 on the previous year. In his report Mr Reid prepared a summary of the number of starters and the average per race day in the various districts up till and including May 19. In the Auckland district 6154 horses competed at 40 meetings, an averaee of 154 a dav. For the

25 race days in the Waikato district the average was 156, for a total of 3914. The total for the Taranaki district, which has 14 days of racing, was 1443, an average of 102; for Wanganui, with 25 days, 3515, an average of 141; for Hawke’s Bay, with 30 days, 3536, an average of 118; and Wellington, with 28 days, 3292, an average of 118. At 24 meetings in the Canterbury district 2968 horses

competed, an average of 124; for the Greymouth district the corresponding figures for 11 meetings were 864 and 78. The Dunedin and Southland districts, both with 20 race days, averaged 95 starters a day. The total starters in both these districts were 1901 (Dunedin) and 1908 (Southland). COSTS HIGHER During the last 10 years owners and trainers had been fighting a losing battle against ever-increasing costs, said the chief racecourse inspector (Mr C. Dudley) last Friday at the conference meeting.

Mr Dudley said that in addition to increased wage rates for stable hands by as much as 60 per cent, the cost of essential items had risen substantially and many trainers had been forced to seek outside employment to make ends meet.

To emphasise this Mr Dudley presented a table of cost rises for fodder in the last 10 years. In 1963 oats cost the equivalent of $1.20 a bushel, chaff was $4 a sack and hay $1 a bale. The corresponding figures in 1973 were $3. $6.80 and $2.50. The price of straw during the same period had risen from 75 cents to $1.50 a bale.

Mr Dudley said that these costs, or at least a proportion of them, had to be passed on to the owner and if this burden, combined with additional training fees, veterinary expenses, transport, shoeing, and riding fees continued to increase at the present rate the ranks of owners could be dramatically reduced within the next few years.