TURF GOSSIP

Evening Star, Issue 25619, 20 October 1945, Page 12

TURF GOSSIP

[By The Chitic] Fractions and Unclaimed Dividends. Hon. F. Langstone, a one-time member of the Cabinet of the present Government, advocated in the House last Friday that the Government should take from the racing and trotting clubs the fractions and unclaimed dividends at present claimed by the clubs. He erroneously estimated the former at at least £IOO,OOO a year. Last raring season a record turnover for the totalisator was recorded, £12,030,432 being handled, and according to the August issue of the 'Abstract of Statistics ' the fractions amounted to £55.248. This is equal to 1 l-10d on every pound invested. The Government already claims all unpaid dividends. Racing and trotting clubs, in addition to paying income and social and national security taxes, also pay direct taxation on totalisator, stakes, and admission charges, which alone totalled £1,133,830 last season. Utesrarding the rebate on the totalisator tax. which amounted to £40.057 last year, very many of the courses were commandeered by the military authorities during the war. and the damage to buildings, etc., done easily exceeded the amount of the rebate. Racing and trotting clubs have been big subscribers to the various war loans, many of them offering their investments free of interest for the duration of the war. The sport has not only been very heavily taxed, but at all times the followers have done their full share in supplying the wherewithal to carry on the war. It is surprising that a prominent member of the Government should be so misinformed regarding the figures he quoted.

Answer to Correspondent. E. O. Jones, Dunedin.—The information you require may be obtained from the secretary of the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club, on whose course rubber-tyred sulkies were first used in New Zealand.

Racing on Monday. There will be an abundance of racing all over the Dominion on Monday, the trotting meeting at Oamaru and the spring meeting at Gore providing convenient outings for local sportsmen. As the usual morning express to the south and a special holiday night train from Invercargill will provide a good service to Gore, .it is likely to be the more popular gathering with. Dnnedinites. It is interesting to recall that when Labour Day first became a statutory holiday it was specially provided that no race meetings were to be held on-that day. But a North Island club had sufficient influence with the Government to get this restriction removed a year or two later.

Dates for Racing Fixtures. Monday morning's papers will settle the question of racing dates for 'the remainder of the season, as a special meeting of the executive was held yesterday to make the allocations.

Profitable Drives. J. Behrns earned £34 10s for his two winning drives behind Warform on Saturday, and the Gore reinsman D. M. Kerr £3l 10s for his three wins behind Uedcliffe Direct, Aberhall, and Grelba. ' •

Where the Money Went. Canterbury-trained horses had another good innings at Forbiirv Park, collecting £2,750 of the £3,500 stake monev. Gore stables had a better in-

nings than usual at this meeting, winning three races and £690 in stakes. Locally-trained horses collected £25, as did Invercargill horses, and the remaining tenner went to Momona. A Good Trial.

Aberhall, who won the Hurricane Handicap very easily last Saturday, is reported to have given his ownertrainer an excellent trial before leaving home, by running the last half of a mile and a-half in 63sec. If that trial is right, Aberhall has a few more wins coming to him before the handicapper catches up to him. A Successful Sire.

Eight of the 45 horses that started at Forbury Park last Saturday claimed TJ Scott as their sire, and three of them were winners and three more place-getters, their total 6hare of the £3,500 given in stakes being £1,430. The progeny by U Scott are seen at their best when the tracks are soft or holding. This is probably due to them inheriting their sire's light shelly feet. He proved a difficult horse to keep sound when in training on this account. The New Zealand Gup.

Handicaps for the New Zealand Cup will be declared next Tuesday morning, and a first acceptance will be taken on Fridav. There is likely to be some weeding out among the 59 that have been nominated for the £5,100 stake, as quite a number of those engaged have been flattered by their owners. The appearance of the weights will, however, stimulate interest in the race. No Looks to Recommend. There was a lot of merit in Warform's double win at Forbury Park last Saturday, and she was very confidently handled by J. Bohrns. In both races she showed too much speed and stamina for the opposition over the concluding stages, and on soft going is a much better mare than she looks. Indeed, if one had attempted to select the winner of the King George Handicap on looks, Warform would have been the outsider of the party.

Perhaps an Oversight. Very few secretaries of either racing or trotting clubs nowadays fail to arrange the nominations for their races in alphabetical order before releasing them for publication, and it was surprising to note that the nominations for the two richest stakes ever run. in the Dominion were not s 0 arranged when announced this week; The arranging of nominations in alphabetical order was first done by the Southland Racing Club over 40 .years ago.

Plenty of Money About. Last Saturday's racing at Forbury Park again demonstrated the fact that it is not necessary to have good-sized fields to attract big betting on the

totalisator. Only in two races were there sufficient starters to return punters three place dividends. There were only 28 starters in the last five events, yet the investments averaged £0.166 iper race. There was plenty of money on the course, and had the club been favoured with a fine day and dry course there would not have been nearly so many scratchings. Only bad weather prevented the club from a record turnover. Though only one first favourite, Warform, in the big race, returned a win dividend, prices throughout the afternoon were unusuallv short, and ranged from a little under"£2 10s to a, little under £8 10s, and a punter who put on £1 on each starter during the afternoon would have lost just on £l3. » Not Fully Recovered. Navigate, who was made a warm favourite for the concluding event at Forbury Park, had every chance, and when he shot into the lead about two furlongs from home his' backers were on good terms with themselves, but directly he was challenged in the run home he shut up badly. Navigate looked well in the parade, but has evidently not yet made a full recovery from the fall he had at Addington about two months ago: After pacers, have had a bad fall in a race it is well for punters to leave them alone until they show they have regained confidence by winning, or at least finishing in the money. Navigate may take some time to make a complete recovery. It is pleasing to be able to record that his trainer, J. Walsh, has made full recovery from the injuries he received when Navigate fell, arid he is a good advertisement for the' skill of the plastic surgeon who effected repairs to his face. The Reason.

A Canterbury owner, who, by the way, had no horses racing at Forbury Park last Saturday, made the remark: " The sooner this club's committee realises that it cannot run a metropolitan programme the better for both owners arid the club." Asked what he meant, he said that the stakes offered were not good enough to attract the best horses, and the classes too fast to catch the class of horses owners would be glad to race at Forbury. He also considered the present date of the spring meeting unsuitable. With the very big stakes on offer ' during three days at Addington early next month, many owners were not inclined to have the handicaps of their horses tightened up by winning the comparatively small stakes on offer at Forbury. He pointed to the very big fields at all the country meetings, " simply'because the classes cater for the majority of the horses in training," he added. He maintained that to-day, with the short limits, medium-class horses provide just as interesting contests as the topnotchers, though they do not go so fast, and the public is not fussy so long as they get a field big enough to show three place dividends to bet on. And probably this visitor is handing out good advice.