ALL-TOTE SYSTEM CRITICISED

Press, 7 September 1976, Page 24

ALL-TOTE SYSTEM CRITICISED

NZPA Sydney.! rhe New Zealand system ot ail tote betting al racecourse.-, ua»| ci incised m an ailicie \vsitiua.v ; o\ “svQiiev bun racing c-uiiui. t»iil c'dse>, wno .stated me tote I ireated punters, “now, and when,l has just returned from Neu Zealand wnere ne reported I on the progress of cup noises; tor tne oyauey alter noun paper. He led off his article in the edition saying: “1 sincerely hope ] I bookmakers are never abolished 'from Australian racecourses.' He I went on to say: “If 1 nad to inaKe one complaint about the | New Zealand racing scene it i wuuld oe tne absence ui book-; : makers at tne couise robs a I meeting of atmosphere. •’And probate iantly wim no competition, tne iute treats punters now and when it likes. Case., described Ellerslie as Auckland’s outstanding racecourse but criticises the lack of pay-out windows in its five-flooi modern stand. ”Tote windows aie sprinkled - fairlv libei ail’ throughout the stand's five floors out they ate windows at which you can buy tickets, nut collect winning bets. ’ Casey described a personal experience when he went to Ellerslie. “There is only one place in that stand to collect a bet, and > that’s on the third floor. And you simply can't move on that floor,’’ he said. The racing journalist said 'he waited 35 minutes to collect a winning bet after the last race at tiie meeting but qui| . d that local punters were attuned to the problem. “The locals have a personal knowledge of the pay-out clerks. They can tell you how long a clerk has been working at the races, whether he gets through his pay-outs quickh. or whether he has a history of causing long delays.” Casey added. “So it is quite common to see people ignoring a fairly short queue to tack on to a much longer one."