COMMONWEALTH'S. MIXED FARE

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 63, 11 September 1937, Page 22

COMMONWEALTH'S. MIXED FARE

SOUTH AUSTRALIA LATEST TO SUFFER SLUMP

(By "Rangatira.")

With the return of prize-money to the level thai: prevailed prior to the slump years, the majority'-of racehorse owners in the Dominion arc now satisfied that it is better to remain at home than incur the expense and risk of venturing after the occasional rich prizes' that arc to be secured on the Commonwealth Turf. It is many years since so few horses crossed the Tasmah from the Dominion in the spring, and it is rather strange to read as a change that Australia deplores the present absence of New Zealand competition. The evidence of recent reports and statements makes it fairly obvious that lacing is not in too happy a way in either New South Wales or South Australia, which is of pertinent interest to the Dominion, as a year or two ago these States were held up lo the New Zealand authorities as the exemplar of what racing here ought to be.

For some time past it has been clear that New South Wales racing is some-

what belatedly passing through an era

of depression, such as was never experienced while the economic slump 1 was buffeting industry' and other activities. The season recently closed, : with most clubs showing losses, was i the . worst suffered since before the • war in Sydney. The cause has been -variously assigned, and in particular to the broadcasting races "over the fence," with consequent increase in the activity of the illegal bookmaker. The true reason may lie in a multiplicity of causes. Queensland, on the other had, had its bad times a few years back, as the result of which very drastic legislation was adopted last year against off-the-course betting, and at present this State is sweltering in a heat-wave of prosperity. Whether the halcyon days are destined to last is another'question, for all the Commonwealth States, when ■ they have made changes, have felt : themselves engulfed, at least temporarily, in the good effects of their own designings. In the meantime the Brisbane metropolitan clubs are able to provide stakes upwards of £2000 'for the important events at the leading meetings, which is double and in many cases quadruple the prize-money given a year or two ago; PERIODS OF TRANSITION. New South Wales and Queensland are in process of working out their ' own racing destinies. In each State the position may be considerably different at the end of the current season from what it is at present. ■ It will probably be two or three years before a real perspective can be taken on Queensland. Change of some description; is apparently an urgent necessity in New South Wales. The "little bombshell" dropped the other day in Sydney by the Auckland owner, Mr. C. M. Eman■uel referred to in telegraphed reports, iis almost sufficient evidence in itself ■'that there's something wrong with racing "in the State of New South Wales " ' Victoria racing has always been a more settled institution than elsewhere iin the Commonwealth, and the Turf in I this State continues to enjoy sound i stability. Victoria has its Melbourne !Cup, Caulfield Cup, Australian Cup, ! Newmarket Handicap, and Grand (Nationals, handicap events that really ihave no counterpart in the rest of Australia, even in Sydney, where the Epsom, Metropolitan, Sydney. Cup, and Doncaster are set on a somewhat lower Iplane. With its big races, the Victorian Turf, which has never suffered the fluctuations in prosperity, that rac- • ing in the other States has, seems ! always destined to be in a, secure •,■„.■■. . It is characteristic ot Victorian racling that the advent of the totalisator in that State was accepted in ordinary course, without the upheaval that the conflict between machine and bookmakers caused in the other States. There has been no real contention between the two radically-opposed modes) of betting in Victoria. The totalisator has made steady progress, with new record turnovers last season; , and, while the number of bookmakers as a result has diminished on the bigger courses, those who remain carry on in the old way and apparent y still find

the laying of odds a profitable occupation. The Victorian Turf, like that of England, has ample room for totalisator and bookmaker—indeed, in those !two countries the double, mode seems (absolutely essential for the continued i prosperity of the sport. A REMARKABLE CONTRAST. South Australia offers the other con-

trast, and it is a remarkable one, as >a year or two ago this State was

flaunted as an illustration of what the reintroduction of the bookmaker and the licensing of betting-shops could do. The figures for the first twelve months certainly did seem to show that the bookmaker and betting-shops had inspired new life into racing—it was overlooked that racing at that time was almost everywhere suffering hand in hand with the economic depression —but figures often lie, not only in the calculation of Governments but also in that of ordinary business and everyday concerns.

A fortnight ago the report and balance-sheet for -the past season was ■brought down by the South Australian Jockey Club, and it struck a very changed tone. According to the chairman of the club (Mr. W. B. Carr), "the result of the year's racing could only be described as disappointing." The chairman, in his address to members, spoke of the effect betting premises had had on racecourse attendances, and expressed the opinion that if action were not taken in regard to their closure at noon on the day of a race meeting within a certain radius of the meeting, the outlook for the spprt was far from bright. Tf they were not shut there should be some modification of betting-shop services.

It will doubtless be a surprise to .many New Zealanders, after the glowing reports that, in recent years have [been disseminated from Adelaide, to

r I learn through the mouth of the S.A.J.C. 2-1 chairman that the apparent prosperity, a following the relicensing of the book- - makers was nothing other than a will p o' the wisp. It may serve a useful pur- :- pose therefore to inspect a little furI, ther the report of the chairman ' and s thus ascertain as far as possible what c actually has happened to racing in the n "State of Perpetual Sunshine." ' ■ r Mr. Carr was addressing the largest c attendance of members at an,annual c meeting for many years. The present c position is so serious that members y obviously desired to discover how it might be remedied. The report dealt i not only with South Australia's domese -tic troubles, but. it, also introduced [i many instructive comparisons with the :- other States of the Commonwealth. | DEPRESSION OVER? s Mr. Carr said that they had been '. told officially that the depression was 11 over, and figures had been published t to prove the State's return to pros- - perity. This being so, it was only 1 natural to expect that /the sport would c have nourished and got back to pree depression level; but, on the contrary, 0 there had not been any improvement 1 so far as the metropolitan clubs were f concerned. Certainly some country i clubs had benefited by the betting legislation, and it was worthy of note that in their case all betting shops within a radius of ten miles of the I course on which the meeting was held r were closed. c The S.A.J.C, said Mr. Carr, had t made a profit on the year of £2735, 1 which included the Government grant f of £3000, but allowing £3578 for de--1 preciation, this had been turned into i- a loss of £843, compared with a profit s of £2295 for the previous 12 months, t. the writing off for depreciation for ' .the two periods being in' the same r ratio. It would be gleaned from these - figures that the club, which had five ;, training tracks to keep in order, was E not in a position to subscribe the - higher stake for owners and trainers i that they' were fairly entitled to expect,' and it had also been compelled i to curtail its expenditure on mainten- » ance and had not been able to underi take many necessary improvements. I "It cannot be too strongly empha- > sised," added Mr. Carr, "that the sport, to regain its former popularity, must I have the patronage of the public. But r instead of people coming to the course E every inducement is still being offered . them to stay away from it and fill the 1 betting shops. . People have not lost - their interest in racing, which is en- . dorsed by the crowded shops. They 1 are, however, availing themselves of . the opportunity to bet:in these places 3 without contributing anything to the > sport. The clubs are providing them with free entertainment." .I, Continuing, Mr. Carr said that in x normal times racing had flourished in r South Australia, the receipts from the a gates and the totalisator commission I enabling the clubs to subscribe stakes double their present value, and there '. were no betting shops then in existence. 3 At the S.A.J.C. Cup Meeting in 1928— .not a peak period—£lo3,ooo was mrr -Gsted in the totalisator, compared with £26,056 last season. The gate receipts ' for the same two years were £7392 - and £3633 respectively. Those were ; illuminating figures and told their own 1 tale.

EANDWICK LOSSES, The Australian Jockey Club, said Mr. Carr, had lost £9600 in the past season, and the committee attributed the main causes of decreased : attendances at Randwick to off-the-course ' betting, aided by the indiscriminate broadcasting of information relating to a race before it had started.

Mr. Carr, hoped the Government would accede to a request made to it

further to assist the clubs financially. I The present grant of £18,000 distributed among clubs all over the State was a small amount out of a revenue of about £200,000 that the Treasury was receiving annually from the betting tax.Legislation passed In Queensland, Mr. Carr said, had been effective in respect to starting-price betting, which proved so disastrous to racing clubs in that State, and the Governments of New South Wales and Victoria were contemplating introducing measures into the Legislatures of those States to stop starting-price betting off the course. He had just received a letter from Mr. P. J. O'Shea, chairman of the Queensland Turf Club, in which he said the Act passed in December, 1936, had had a wonderful effect on racing generally in Queensland, and, had minimised to a great extent the .starting-price-betting evil. There'had been a marked improvement in the attendances on the course, and a substantial increase ,in totalisator investments, and these were being maintained. The profit of his club for the year was fifajiO, compared with £2399 for the previous twelve months, and most of it had been earned since the Act came into force. Stakes had been raised in seven months by £4000, with every prospect of their being further added to. Not'only had his club's finances benefited and owners

year-old filly by Night Raid from the Paper Money--Illume mare Flicker, and a two-year-old filly by Colonel Cygnus from the Paper Money—Samper mare Lucky Light.

For his win at the end of last month the Brisbane Tattersall's Cup candidate Brownfelt • has been rehandicapped 21b to 8.7 for the/Caulfield Cup, for which his original impost was ,8.2. This is the second revision of his weight.

assisted in the matter of stakes, but the Government had received a bigger revenue. '

It is of interest also to note a reply made to the S.A.J.C. report, a few days later by the Premier of South Australia (the Hon. R. L.' Butler). Mr. Butler said that if the clubs had not had the 2 per cent, from off-the-course betting,/plus the £18,000 grant, the: S.A.J.C. probably would not be operating today. He added that the Government intended its grant to the racing clubs to be used for the installation of modern totalisators. and the clubs had themselves to blame if they had not improved their machines. Experience in other States had proved that when racing clubs installed up-to-date totalisators, people had patronised them. This move, particularly in Victoria, had led to increased attendances at race meetings.