Successful promotion

Press, 19 October 1982, Page 36

Successful promotion

PA Auckland The Franklin Racing Club’s eight-race programme at Pukekohe on Saturday afternoon was a great success, with course turnover $320,000 greater than the previous best. About 10,000 people attended the club’s promotion, billed as the Sires Championship meeting. Each race was worth $20,000 and racegoers bet $762,433. This was an increase of $372,516 on the corresponding day last year and $319,504 more than the record set two years ago. Both of those meetings had 10-race cards. The T.A.B. turnover was not a record, but the $1,446,685 beat last year’s return by $441,884. In addition, $358,097 was bet on the T.A.B. treble and $47,134 on a T.A.B. quinella on the fifth race (not available on

course). With the fields so even except for the opening race for two T year-olds, course betting was fairly uniform in volume. The first drew $70,825, the second $84,754 and the. others, $94,654, $94,549, $104,856, $104,844, $99,723 and $108,228. The final event also proved popular off the course, attracting $224,776, easily the greatest amount handled on any of the eight races. An example of the way the betting spread deeply into each race showed in the quinella dividend for the maiden event, won by the favourite, Sirex, from the second fancy, Elucidate — $42. A $5O betting window at Pukekohe did brisk business, averaging $lO,OOO a race, ac-

cording to the secretary of the Franklin Racing Club, Mr Brian Betteridge. The club offered payment to winning owners in gold rather than money, and he said yesterday that “about 70 per cent” of the owners had preferred gold. Club officials said they were pleased' with the success of the meeting, and expressed confidence that not only would the programme be repeated next year but other club dates would be promoted in a similar way. The Auckland and Waikato districts handicapper, Mr Syd Tonks, said yesterday that the first prizes — $12,000 in all cases — would be unlikely to cost the earner more than Ikg above its weighting in normal circumstances.