REDUCTION OF TEAMS IN VICTORIA

Dominion, Volume 38, Issue 202, 24 May 1945, Page 9

REDUCTION OF TEAMS IN VICTORIA

Due To Drought Conditions The reduction of horses in training in Victoria from 900 to 335 is expected to be followed by similar action In New South 'Wales, where there are more than 1000 horses in work. The Victorian Minister of Agriculture, while expressing his sympathy with the racing organizations, stated that with his knowledge of the fodder position and his experience of the drought-stricken areas it was imperative to reduce the number of thoroughbreds in training so as to conserve fodder. There was no suggestion that the Government had any desire to retriet racing or act as "killjoys" in any way. The reduction in tlie number of horses means that clubs will have to cater exclusively for the good class horses. The poorly-performed animal will have to go, and so. too, will the old horses. It is expected that the racing clubs in Victoria will follow the lines of the EngTish Jockey Club which, faced by much the same problem because of the shortage of fodder,» was told by the Government that tlie number of horses had to be reduced by at least 50 per cent. The Jockey Club first barred horses seven years and upwards from racing. Then five and six-year-olds in 1944 which had not won -since their two-yeur-old season or had been placed at two or three years in a race at a mile and over, had to go. The next lot to come under the ban were four-year-olds which had never been placed; and the final batch, four-year-olds and upwards In 1944 which were not in training in 1943. It was found that the sliding scale of restrictions worked justly. There were Isolated cases of hardships where good horses had been off the scene through sickness or unsotindness and found them-

selves within the scope of the restrictions. Persian Gulf, reputed to be the best stayer in England for many years, only escaped the ban through having a minor placed performance to his credit. Racing people are much more fortunate in New Zealand, where the fodder position has not been of much trouble. The best quality fodder is hard to obtain and at a high price, but there has been sufficient for all. Droughts and bushfires, which play havoc so frequently with crops and pastures in Australia do not affect us in Now Zealand to anything like the extent that they do tn the Commonwealth. It has- been truly remarked by a southern writer that there is enough pasture going to waste on tlie sides of the roads in New Zealand to feed all the drought-stricken stock in A’ictoria. A writer in tlie Melbourne “Sporting Globe” suggests that unless there is rain soon, it is possible that the 1945 Melbourne Cup will not eventuate.