DOG RACING

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 68, 17 September 1932, Page 21

DOG RACING

BRECK PARK COURSE

BETTING MADE EASY

A new form of totalisator now in operation at Liverpool is said to be the last word in automatic betting machines. It has been set up at the Breck Park Greyhound Racing Track by the Automatic Electric Company. Recently the Electric Company and the proprietors of the ground entertained visiting journalists, and gave them the opportunity of witnessing a couple of dog races and of seeing the machine -work. - ,

Lancashire is the home o£ dog racing. Long before public tracks were laid down in England whippet-racing was the favourite sport among the miners. It is natural, therefore, that Liverpool should take their greyhound raciug very, seriously. For five years meetings have' been held at what is known as Breck Park, and financial success has inspired the Liverpool Greyhound Club to make extensive improvements to their grounds, so that it now ranks as one of the most up-to-date dog tracks in thj country. The track, which measures 46S yards, and the central lawn have been returfed, and a very fine clubhouse lias been erected. First impressions of the lounge of the club are that one has stepped into the garden restaurant of a luxury liner. Windows extend from floor to ceiling along the complete length, and one side of the room, and the whole o£ the course is thus visible to those standing or seated' in the lounge. French windows in the centre open out on to a. sunken balcony, so that an even closer view of the finish o£ the races—directly beneath—is obtained.

Shelters cover about half the extent of the sloping terraces around the course, and under the shelters are the ticket boxes for registering bets. At one end of the,course is a tall concrete structure, visible to everyone attending the meeting, where the totalisator records are displayed.

Except in one special feature the totalisator apparatus is identical with that which has been in operation at various racecourses under the Betting' Control Board since April, 1930, but it is this special feature which makes the new machine unique. The left-hand column of the indicator gives the number of the race. Beneath are the numbers of the competing dogs, and opposite these are shown the progressive dividend forecasts throughout the wagering period.

EXACT CALCULATIONS,

In other words, the totalisator faithfully registers the fluctuating pulse of the wagering in just the same way as the human bookmakers shorten or lengthen their "odds," in accord with popular fancy. There is this vital difference, however, that the changing figures on the win side are exact cash calculations, forecasting a mathematically correct distribution of the "win" pool every halfminute. The calculating machines receiving the bets on each individual runner instantaneously calculate the mathematically correct dividend, and adjust the ratio of dividend on other, runners, and, in calculating, the operating administration's legitimate working percentage is automatically deducted. When the time for" the start of the race arrives the operator inside the totalisator house turns a key and every ticket-issuing: machine around the course is locked. The last dividend figures displayed will then show the amount to be received per 2s unit' if and when a dog comes in a winner.

There seems to be no loophole for mistakes. The entire totalisator is under the control of a single responsible official, seated at a small switchboard, before a facsimile (on a email scale) of the giant indicator outaide, and he can start, stop, and control the betting at all points. Every wager, besides being automatically registered, added to the total pool, and its effect upon competitive wagers adjusted, sends back an electrical signal to the particular machine which accepted it in the first instance, and no ticket can be issued from the machine -until the seal hat* thus been set, as it were, to the transaction. These processes, of course, are practically instantaneous.

In the" matter of place wagering the totalisator records the progressive total pool and the growing total units wagered on each dbg, the ratios between them at any moment indicating the prevailing "odds.".

Provision is also made for placing pool,, tote doubles, the time of the first dog past the post, and other information concerning the various events to be displayed at appropriate intervals.