Betting bill will aid dog racing

Press, 27 October 1977, Page 6

Betting bill will aid dog racing

PA Wellington On*course totalisator betting will be available at greyhound race meetings for the first time on August 1 next year under legislation introduced in Parliament yesterday.

The Racing Amendment Bill grants restricted totalisator betting to the sport as well as making several changes affecting all forms of racing, including a reduction of the legal betting age from 20 to 18. The Minister of Internal Affairs (Mr Highet) described the bill as a momentous one for the administrators of greyhound racing who, for many years, had sought to put their sport on the same footing as racing and trotting in terms of on-course betting. The betting would benefit the sport, which had struggled to raise revenue through equalisator betting since bookmaking was made illegal in 1920, he said.

Mr Highet said that the new concept of on-course totalisator betting introduced in the bill— to be known as a restricted totalisator licence — was restricted in that the licence did not extend to off-course betting. The extension of off-course betting to greyhound racing was a matter for the future: a fact accepted by those involved in the sport, he said. “In the meantime, the sport will have the opportunity to demonstrate its ability to conduct on-course betting at the club level and to gain from this experience the public knowledge and confidence in the administration of the sport on a national basis, which would be an essential prerequisite to any extension of betting facilities.” Mr Highet said the restricted totalisator licence was expected to largely replace the equalisator licence under which greyhound clubs and a few smaller horse-racing clubs had been running in the past. The bill also provides for the official body controlling greyhound racing, The Greyhound Racing Association, to be represented on the Racing Authority.

The association will have one nominee on the enlarged 10-member authority. The authority itself is given new powers to act in certain areas where at present it has only advisory powers.

One of its new powers will be the determination of the distribution between racing, trotting, and greyhound racing of the total number of totalisator licences to be issued in any racing year. The authority will also have power to adjudicate in disputes between the Racing and Trotting Conferences and the Greyhound Racing Association and in disputes between clubs that may be referred to the authority by the respective national body. Of specific interest to horse racing, the bill makes it permissible for the totalisator to be opened for betting 10 times at any one race meeting. The present legal maximum is nine. Mr Highet said the provision to run an extra totalisator race would make it more attractive for clubs to provide opportunities for the qualifying of maiden performers, and would be of benefit in areas where it was difficult for owners to have their horses accepted for totalisator races. Mr Highet said the decision to lower the legal betting age from 20 to 18 years was based on a realistic view and was in line with changes of a similar restriction in several other areas.

The Opposition generally welcomed the bill, althoush its spokesman on sport, Mr E. E. Isbey (Grey Lynn), was critical of the decision to restrict the betting to oncourse.

He said that greyhound racing was growing in popularity and had developed a big following, particularly in Auckland since the Mount Smart track had been opened. The sport could be helped further if it was given total parity with racing and trotting, he said. The Leader of the Opposition (Mr Rowling) suggested that the absolute power given the Racing Authority in the distribution of licences could be excessive and mean the death knell of small racing clubs such as Kumara. Kurow, and Dargaville.

He asked what protection such clubs had against the reallocation of licences by the authority. Mr M. Rata (Lab., Southern Maori) asked what criteria would be used in the redistribution or issuing of new licences.

In reply, Mr Highet said that greyhound administrators had asked onlv for oncourse betting at this stage, as they realised that they had to prove themselves before gaining full T.A.B. facilities. The Minister said that in terms of licences the authority recommended only the total number of licences fot the various conferences within stated limits. If the Government felt, for example, that too many racing days had been recommended, it could decline the authority’s view.

Mr Highet said the authority would not have powers to deal with individual clubs. The three conferences of the racing, trotting, and greyhound bodies would decide the final allocation of the licences to clubs.

The criteria which greyhound clubs would have to meet before they were granted restricted totalisator betting was a matter to be decided by the Greyhound Association and the Racing Authority. Mount Smart would get one, and Hutt Park and Queen Elizabeth II Park seemed well forward with their plans. Mr Highet said the maximum number of restricted licences which might be granted to greyhound clubs in a year was 60. The number to be granted in the first year would be decided by the authority. The Minister also said that he felt that clashes of racing dates between the various types of racing could be handled through gentlemen’s agreements with the authority acting as an intermediary.

The bill was referred to Parliament’s local bills committee for consideration and the hearing of submissions.