Racing and trotting High Aust. stakes seen as threat to N.Z. racing

Press, 18 July 1979, Page 24

Racing and trotting High Aust. stakes seen as threat to N.Z. racing

Australian stakes, always huge by New Zealand standards, are becoming so big that New Zealand could never hope to match them, according to the chief stipendiary steward 1 Mr Phil Reid ) in his report to the annua! meeting of the New Zealand Racing conference.

With the ease of transport' today, the trek to Australia 1 was becoming more and|< more commonplace, he said, i If this continued it would i; inevitably pose a threat to! the quality of racing in New : Zealand. But there seemed to be very little that could! be cone to counter the prob-ji iem. “Nevertheless, salvage of ■ some kind and degree must : be sought and such, as I see' it lies in the prosperity of I; the big clubs,” said Mr Reid. “The more they prosper,' with the help of sponsorship h and otherwise, the bigger! the stakes they will be able : to offer, thus providing! some enticement for the New Zealand owner to re- I main and race in this coun- ; tn.” Mr Reid said the money:: offering in Australia was at-ii

I trading several of New Zealand's top riders and a few! j others of lesser calibre. i It followed that the pool :and standard of riders in ■ New Zealand had to be maintained. The potential in (that regard lay with the ap-) I prentice and what was done ; for and by him or her. The standard of several of j New Zealand’s young first-' season riders had never been, higher and it was imnort-i >ant that the jockeys’ financial well-being should be always responsibly consid-j ered. The licensing of women' apprentice jockeys, in-] itroduced from August 1, had: now seemingly melded into| the New Zealand scene; almost imperceptibly, j But there had been nothing imperceptible about the! inumber of young women!

■ who had chosen to take up : a racing career, nor the success which some of them I had achieved. i “Indeed the feat of Linda > Jones, who in the first place i championed so effectively -(the cause of female riders, •jin riding in excess of 40 I winners within the first six r j months of being licensed. •|was quite sensational in its i over-all impact and fur•(thermore, has rarely been -.matched at any time by any Hof her male counterparts,” • (said Mr Reid. I “Mrs Jones was later i accorded star billing in Australia, where her fame had I'preceded her to the extent II that the rules were hastily i changed in order to accom- : modate professional jockeys. -i In all quite an achievement •jfor about 47kg of attractive i-femininity.”