BEATING THE PUBLIC!

Grey River Argus, 29 May 1925, Page 6

BEATING THE PUBLIC!

RACING TAXATION I T ~ I leHiptahosi la bwoers REMEDY SUGGESTED. CHIL'STUIIL’KCn, Abiy 28. Al the annual meeting of tiie Canterbury Jockey Club, the Chairman, Mr George Gould, had the following to say regarding the taxation of sport:— ‘‘Before the War, with its attendant taxation and disturbances of monev ■ a lues, and under the wise guidance of the Facing Conference, an owner, given an average degree of knowledge and luck, had. n fail' chance of paying expenses oft of stakes, leaving him free to bet or not to bet, according to his inclinations arid the optimism or pessimism of his nature. To_day, however, Ihe position is very different. The cost of racing, partly due to the Government’s exactions, is almost double while during the la.it four years the stakes have receded. In 1P.14/15, the Stakes given by this Club amounted to nearly £38,000. This year they were M 2.655. whereas to bear the prc-War r.-lation to expenses, they should be at 3'..-I .£60,00(1. Racing is a tine pastime, but it has a.lso a serious financial aspect fur those engaged in it. An examina. lion of racing statistics leads to the conclusion that only about one horse in four pays its expenses out of the stakes, and there is a gap of about £200,000 between the gross amount, of the stakes won and the cost involved in the training ami racing of about two thousand horses. This gap, many | people seek to bridge by betting, with varying success. Hence the desirability .f increasing the stakes, so that tin* sport may more nearly pay its way, without fortuituous aids. Alany country (lubs are in difficulty, small as the slakes are, which they can afford tn give. When the stakes arc small, there is the danger that (he owners who cannot afford to look upon racing as a pleasant way of spending their money, may try to carry on by manipulat’iig In-- results, and beating Ihe public. I fit were not for the better stakes given by the Metropolitan Clubs, the honest sportsman could not live. -\:i<l vet the Minister proposes to create more clubs in the hackblocks, where there arc neither horses. jiopulation, racing facilities, nor means of training 111-.eiii! W’aat cun be done in these cirtwner on a better footing? 1 say, with. <»ut hesitation, that the Government shoubl surrender for the good ‘H the sport, some portion of the money that it takes from the racing community. The dividend tax alone, now produces double Hit* -whole revenue from the totnlisator tax of a few years ago. It jhr Government would remit to the (’bibs their 2’. yer cent on the first E2O 000 <.f each day’s turnover, it would put the small clubs .-.m their leer and give a tremendous lift to honest sport. This would mc\n giving up aboui £3OO n day, or £90,000 a year—a good deal of which could go direct l.> the stakes; but. the Government .wnulil still be .lerivinjx some luilf a million in various ways from the racing [■.iiblii', against wliii-h Hie general com. munitv pays no equivalent.’’ —