Cromwell Jockey Club

Cromwell Argus, 15 July 1929, Page 5

Cromwell Jockey Club

The annual general mooting of the above was held mi Saturday, Oth July. There was a record attendance 37 members being- present. Mr hr. jolly presided. Minutes of last annual meeting were read and continued. The annual report and balancesheet were read and adopted. Ihe report was as follows; r “Your Committee, in presenting- to you the annual balance-sheet, regret ven mueh that the year lias proved unsuccessful financially. It has been generally recognised that if the horses are attracted to the meeting, the publics paVionage is' assured. This was not the ease at the last annual race-meeting when whereas the fields were fair, the attendance of the public was very much below the usual. Many reasons have been advanced for this, but the general concensus ol I opinion is that the district was too busy with shearing and harvesting to patronise the races. Ihe dates oi tho races were December 7HI and Nth. these dates being allotted by the New Zealand Racing Conference dates committee. The dates applied lor in the first place were November 17th and ,Bth. but South Canterbury came in with November 23rd and 24th, so that this dashed with Winton’s application Win ton were allotted their old dates. November 17th and 18th. and with Km bury on November 30th, there was no other alternative but December 7 th and Bth. When Cromwell and Vincent raced in January both clubs seemed to be fading very badly, so Cromwell shifted to the spring. Ihe first year was very successful but the last two vears have been a very lean time. The club held a meeting in April when the matter of dates was very thoroughly discussed, and the eonsequence was that March 7th and Bth was the result of the deliberations. These dates will come up for contir•mation tonnght. he, bajanee>-s|hcet discloses a loss on the working of the Club for the year of ,£llß 3s Od prmcicallv made up by the gates and tota lisa tor. Nominations and members also show a shrinkage. A very regrettable item shows outstanding members subs of £SO, and nominations and acceptances of £.27. Most of this money seems good and will be forthcoming. Special thanks are due to all officials and committees who worked so hard for the welfare of the club and your committee desire to thank one and all for their services. Better hopes are entertained for the future and we trust that the coming year will produce better results. In moving the adoption ol the import, the chairman said it was certainly not very favorable, and lor a few years the club had been going back, but it was not the only one m this position, as quite a lot of clubs had been losing money, (excessive taxation by the (lOvernment had <1 good deal to do with this, and attempts to have it decreased had not been successful. The present Covernment also seemed to be up against it. In last years receipts the privileged were down £ iq. R ate £t’ 1 ’ nominations £.7- and total isator revenue £33- d'he club had aso spent £233 on a new luncheon room. Of this £143 had been refunded and there was still due £BB. which they hoped to get next year. Jn all these matters the club had suffered. It was verging on a state when they would have to look to their laurels, and it thev continued to go back they would be in a serious state. On the balance-

yu ill a kj*.|ivu' •' . sheet there was £SO outstanding member’s lees and £25 nominations, which was a rather serious position ami should not be. From the list hetoie him he considered these were all j4<>od. and it might merely he a case that main have been overlooked. Reminders had been sent out but the respon-e was not satisfactory. All those mentioned had tickets sent to them. In replv to a question the chairman said the subs were all tor last \eat . \] r |. f. I’a reel I seconded the motion. In doing so he suggested, that, as was done by other Hubs. Ihe balance-sheet and report should he printed and presented to members in advance of the annual meeting. Regarding subscriptions, he felt that some were not aware these were ownin', fnless an account was rendered these might be overloked. Speaking to the motion, the auditor (Mr L. McDonald). complimented the secretary on the excellent manner J in which the books ut the club were kept. In doing this there was a lot of work which did nut appear on the surface. Mr F. Vercne spoke on the amount spent on luncheons, and considered 1 this should be kept down, d renting owners was ciuite a reasonable matter, but there were others who could well pay for their luncheon. In reply the chairman said that this privilege was only extended owners, committees, reporters, and one or two others. The motion for the adoption was carried. Thirteen new members were pro- | posed and duly elected. The election of office-bearers resulted as follows; Mr Kr. Jolly was re-elected president unopposed, and in returning thanks assured members lie would do his best towards bettei times. After a motion lor the election ot two vice-presidents only was deleatecl. the following live were elected; Messrs de Hettenem. Stumbles. G. Partridge. Wisliart and Swann. (General Committee;-—V.I hirteen nominations were received and the following nine were elected: Messrs J. Trevathan. \V. Campbell. R. Thomas. |. I losking. A. Ree. J. Radlord. A. Crombie, J- ( • Parcell. and \\ . Brown. Secrotarv and treasurer; Mr I). A. Cahill. Judge: Alt I). S. Middleton. Starter; Mr G. Wisliart; assistants: Messrs j. Trevathan and F. Vercoe. Clerks of Scales; Messrs J. I losking and \V. Partridge. Clerks ol '1 otalisator; Messrs 1.. M. jelly and I--MeDonald. VT i innkeepers; Messrs R. Thomas, j. C. Parcell. and A . Ree. Clerk of Course: Mr J. Radford. Auditor: Mr f.. McDonald. Handicapper; Mr (.fen. Wrightson. 'I rack Committee; Messrs 1. I losking, J. Radford, D. A. Cahill, and F. Vercoe. Superintendent of s Joekey"s Room: Mr K. Bruce. Judicial Committee; Messrs F.r. lollv, G. Partridge. K. C.. Varcoe, J. C. Parcell. and I. Swann. Programme. Committee: Messi-s \. Crombie. J. C. Parcell. W. Camphell. 1 ]. Mosking. K. Thomas. R. Haig. T. Vercoe. R. i’ruce. |. Radford. J. Trevathan. and W- Partridire. ()ll the suggestion of Mr 1. C. Parcel! it was decided to take out a load of forms for additional soatimr accommodation on race-days if availI a Ith*. Mr A. Crombie si joke on member- | -.hip. and considered the club should have at least 300. if not t.so mem--1 her'. Special efforts should he made I to that cud. I M- I. Grant raised the question as | to how many members Cromwell 1 (homed from ne'i<;ht)or'ing clubs. <>( ' which many local spurts were mem-

bets. Me thought- efforts should be made to list members from the neighboring centres. Mr J. C Parcell supported the suggestion. He said that every year ' members from adjoining clubs came to Cromwell, and in a systematic canvass booked quite a lot of members. He thought this would be reciprocated if influential members visited other centres. The president said the club should certainly have twice its present* membership. A few years ago a collector at 2s (kI commission secured quite a lot of members. If a committee was appointed he would arrange for visiting other centres. Questions had been asked as to why there were not more meml>er>. but he would like to point out that whereas one or two always came forward with new ones, I others did not. There was room to ; act more than talk. In reply to a question as .0 tinj advisability of a recall (lag in the I event of a false or unfair start, the ! secretary said the matter was coming ' before the Conference, which would . deride the point. j The amount of stakes was respon- | sible tor some discussion. Mr J. C. 1 I'arcell moved that the amount be I £7OO, a reduction of /. 130 on last year. ! lie said the club could not go on j facing a deficit, and by the proposed j reduction the finances could be worked out to balance. In offering A'B3o the club would be spending i something it did not June. The difference in the amount would not affect the nominations. —Mr f". Vercoe seconded. An amendment was that the amount; be the same as last year—,£B3o. Mr M. de Betteneor was not in favor of reducing the stakes, as he considered the amount low enough now. Dr. Harrison said the proposed reduction would not keep a single horse away. In his opinon owners looked to tho totalisator as much as the stakes. Mr W'ishart's opinion was that a reduction in stakes would affect the nominations. If the club struck the right dates it would come out with a surplus. Mr F. Vercoe said a reduction of from /*5 to ,£lO a race would not make any difference to owners. As far as winning- one race was concerned it was no good to an owner. If an owner did not not look for some revenue from the totalisator lie would not nominate. Mr Stumbles suggested meeting the position halfway and reducing the stakes £7O. They should not attempt to wipe off, the deficiency in oue year. j

Mr S. Stephens sounded a word of caution in that many clubs were at present- seeking permits, and a reduction to might jeopardise the club in the eyes of the Conference. Mr \V. Campbell was in favor of last years amount. They had no end of bad luck last year, and this might not happen again for years. In reply, Mr Parcell said there were no reasonable grounds for assuming that/ the revenue would be any greater than last year. A division resulted in the amendment for ,£B3O being carried by a substantial majority. Patrols were elected for the meeting as follows:—Messrs V. Scheib, P. Husking", L. J, Anderson. J. de BatfMi coi, W. Brown, C. Brown. P, Cotter, J. Tait. B. Hansen, and R. Mitchell. Messrs McCinnis and Co. were appointed to work the tote on the same lines as last year. It was decided to engage the band on the usual terms—/"8 Bs. Mr F. Vercoe spoke on the necessity of having the gatekeepers on duty up to time, and for stricter control of the gate- leading- into the saddling paddock. 'The next question discussed was free luncheon ticket-, and Mr [■'. Ver- j coe s;n'd thL should ly "tightened up" 11 bit. After siuiie discussion the president j suggested doing 1 away with it alto- ; getlier, ami providing only for jock- ' eys. iincl a motion to that effect was carried. i The final question was that <>r ! dates and this also created a long discussion. The president said the provisional dates -elected at a former meeting were March 7th and Bth, 1930. Mr J. C. Parcell said that the j dates referred to were adopted on a | close division, following a long- dis- j cussion. It was an important matter | calling for undivided and unbiassed } consideration. The March dates were considered the most suitable, cspecially from the point of the men on the | land, and the producer generally. \f j that particular period their busy season was over and they had the j proceeds of their season's, work. I Karlier in the season the men on the land were busy. Karlv in January j racing made big demands on the com- j munity. He moved that March 7th and Bth Ixj confirmed by this meeting. Mr N. J. Kowe was in favour of running within a few djft's of the Vincent meeting. He did hot approve of March. Between Dunstan and Blacks vvou'd be very suitable. Dr Harrison's opinion was that the meeting- should be held during the holiday season, when the people were in holiday mood. if the club could race two days before or after Vincent it would come out all right. He proposed as an amendment that the meeting be held in January if dates were available. Mr de Bettencor did not support ! either proposal. They had previously j departed from, the January meeting. By running close to Vincent there would be t'oifr days racing in a week and the district could not stand it. 'The weather in March was always 1 doubtful. Mr Stumbles supported the March j date-, as there was little or no racing for some weeks at that time, in Otngo 1 and Canterbury. At the time, too, all owners would have horses in training. Mr J. ((.rant spoke from the pointof accommodation at the different periods. January was a very busy time with the accommodation houses. Mr Stevens thought the meeting would suffer financially if held too I closo to Vincent. Mr A. Crorubie supported the March dates. Work on the farms and stations was over, and this seemed the most suitable period. The president explained the position and the varioas changes. The club raced during 1025-26 in January, but next year changed to .November, ana' showed a profit of /.'S4. The date* were not suitable the following year and changes were made to October | and then December, and on both occasions the club made a losn. Racing in January was not a success uiul the district could not successfully carry out four days racing. Viewed from all points he considered March the j most suitable time. There was very • little racing at that time. 'There was no other date on the Calendar before March 20th, excepting a trotting fixture at Timaru on March qtli. He believed the club might be successful by racing in March. On a division being taken the motion foi March 7th and Bth was carried. i

In disposing- of tho subject the president said he hoped they had chosen tho rig-ht dates. It was now up to members to put their shoulders to tho wheel and do the best for the club in securing- new members. Messrs Parcel!, de Betteneor, Dr. Harrison, Crombie, and Cotter offered their assistance in canvassing- outside districts. The president thanked the members for their oiler of direct assistance, and would arrange accordingly. In closing the meeting- lie thanked members for their attendance, and hoped the club was- on the eve of a new era of prosperity. The meeting- dosed with the usual vote to the chair.