Broadcasting cuts will hit C.J.C. hard

Press, 18 July 1977, Page 16

Broadcasting cuts will hit C.J.C. hard

By J. J. BOYLE The Canterbury Jockey Club is concerned at the prospect of heavy cuts in the number of races broadcast on the network on its week-day meetings in the new season. In terms of an announcement made on Saturday cuts in the Radio New Zealand’s service fo~ week-day meetings will be felt as early as August 9, the second day of the Grand National meeting. Because the C.J.C. does not have a race worth more than $lO,OOO on its programme that day it does not qualify for network broadcast of doubles and treble races, so it will have to resign itself to coverage from the local station of races which will be contested in strength by horses from outside Canterbury, including runners for North Island stables.

More seriously, the club could have only one of its week-day races broadcast on the network in the complete 1977-78 season as compared with 17 this season.

The only $lO,OOO-plus race on a week day, as distinguished from a public holiday like Easter Monday, at Riccarton, in the new season will be the Canterbury Gold Cup on the second day of the New Zealand Cup meeting in November.

“It seems to me there has been a strong pro-trotting bias shown in this case when a alloping club must have a race worth more than $lO,OOO to qualify for a network broadcast, yet they have settled for $5OOO plus for a night-trotting meeting,” Mr Warren Barberel, secretary of the Canterbury Jockey Club, commented last evening. Mr Barberel said the new arrangement would hit hard at South Island clubs. “It’s clear to everyone that thousands of people don’t care to take doubles and trebles on meetings unless they can hear the broadcast commentaries, and the effects of the new arrangement over a whole season will be marked,” Mr Barberel said.

“Even with Saturday rac-

ing, it seems that very few South Island clubs will have their doubles races on the network in the new season until one of those few days when there will be only three race meetings,” Mr Barberel said. Mr Barberel said he expected his club’s finance committee would be having a hard, urgent look at the new development at its meeting tomorrow. His club had an earlier disappointment in losing Grand National Hurdles day on August 13 from its list of televised meetings for the new season.

“We were advised we were losing the Grand National Hurdles day this year because of previous commitments to another sporting fixture. I suppose they mean the Rugby test in Auckland that day, but I wonder how that could be regarded as a prior commitment when we have had television on this day for the last six years,” Mr Barberel said.

Winner for Andrews NZPA Melbourne The New Zealand jockey. Brian Andrews, notched success for Geoff Murphy in taking the 9 to 4 favourite. Bold Troubadour, to victory In the 1400 m Newmlster Handicap for two-year-old colts and geldings at Caulfield on Saturday. Andrews, who settled In Melbourne earlier this year, joined Murphy last week, replacing Alan Trevena. the young jockey best known for his successes on the Murphy-trained filly Surround.