Crowd of 15,971 at trots

Press, 30 December 1985, Page 26

Crowd of 15,971 at trots

A record crowd of 15,971 packed the course at Motukarara on Saturday when the Banks Peninsula Trotting Club held its popular country and western meeting. “There were probably 8000 plus children here as well,” said Mr Lindsay Stowell, the secretary of the club. “The best crowd we’ve had before was a bit over 10,000 adults,” he said. So popular is the picnic meeting that almost all of the car-parking along the rails was full by 8.30 a.m.

almost four hours before the first race. Late-comers had to park some distance from the course. “The only problem we had was a shortage of water and that was something completely beyond our control,” said the president of the club, Mr Jim Baker. “I would like to apologise for the inconvenience it caused to some of our patrons and I can assure them that it will be one which should never recur. We will be upgrading the system before our next meeting in October,” he

added. The betting per head was not high, but the club was well satisfied with the oncourse total of $470,774, an increase of $144,897 over 1984 when the club raced before Christmas. Offcourse betting rose $197,150 to $814,223. The on-course total would have been greater but for a breakdown in the totalisator situated in the parking area.

The eight windows were reduced to two for several races.