SPORT OF TROTTING.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 8 July 1925, Page 10

SPORT OF TROTTING.

THE SEASON REVIEWED. CONFERENCE i‘RESIDENI"S ADDRESS. (Special t« Star). WELLINGTON, July 8. Matters affecting the sport cf trotting in all departments were touched upon bv Mr H. F. NicolL president of the New Zealand Trotting -'.Conference, in his address at the opening session oi the annual gathering this forenoon. The president’s address, apart front more formal references ami an expression of appreciation of the services of the late Mr. Massey, was as follows: Tt is with much pleasure that we,, the representatives of the old-established clubs, welcome to our Council Chamber the delegates of the clubs newly constituted under the 11)2-1 (Jaming Amendment Act. 1 am sure that they will work with us in the same spirit of unselfishness for the furtherance of the spoTt of trotting that has been evidenced by the work of the delegates assembled here year by year during the last 20 years. The great thing lor us all to remember is the virtue of careful work. Our sport, with its manifold phases, demands this of us and instead of limiting our vision to immediate events and"contingencies, we must look beyond, to the result of our present day work on the future of trotting and see that our generation builds a solid foundation for those who will follow us in the years to come. CAM INC AMENDMENT ACT, 1924. The most important happening in the trotting world of New Zealand during the past year has been the passing of the Gaming Amendment. This Bill gave to trotting 19 extra permits and to racing 12 extra permits, and also contained a clause whereby a racing, trotting or hunt club could alter its constitution from any one of those sports to the other. TAXATION.

The Bill, however, did not contain any mention of that most important subject, the reduction of taxation of sports clubs. Your executive. In conjunction with the president of the Racing Conference, took all steps possible to have this matter included in the Bill, and though we were unsuccessful for the time being, the late Premier gave us his promise that a further Bill would deal with this subject during the coming session, and I am glad to note that the Hon. It. F. Bollard has tpiitc recently confirmed this aiul that clubs may more confidently look forward to a reduction in the taxation wliiclif has already put some clubs out of action, and is an overwhelming burden to many others. It Inis been suggested that a rebate of It per cent, should be alowed on the first £20,000 put through the totalisator. This would b© of assistance if allowed on each day’s racing, but if only allowed on the first £20,000 put through each year, it would be of little value. Clubs have been \steadilv reducing stakes during the last two years, and yet more are still losing money, and much more substantial relief than that indicated is required before the sport can recover its equalibrium and level. ALLOCATION OF PERMITS With reference to the allocation ol permits, it is to he regarded that your executive did not succeed in influencing the Minister of Internal Affairs to sanction the whole of its recommendations, at the same thu© w© admit that the Minister treated us fairly, lie gave us every opportunity to state our case; he gave reasons for the alterations he made, aiul he compromised with us in two or three debatable instances. * We regret exceedingly that some clubs were left out who had excellent- claims for a further permit, and Mr. Bollard agreed that he could see no good reason why certain clubs should not receive permits if only they had been available. Of the 19 new permits 10 days were allotted to the existing totalisator clubs and eight nontotalisator clubs received the remainder. 1 believe that the tour the Minister made of the Dominion, visiting tnc different districts applying for trotting standpoints, because it opened his eyes very considerably to the wonderful advance the sport is making throughout New Zealand, and ho was evidently much impressed with the class of men who are taking their share in the management and who are working for the progres s of trotting. Your executive of the opinion that Mr. Bollard did not allow political consideration or influences to weigh with him when deciding upon the distribution of the trotting permits. There are still, to-day, at least extra permits required for clubs and districts, and it will be our duty when the opportunity occurs to endeavour to secure for these people their just dues.

SUPERVISION OF RAOJiNU. I spoke last year of the supervision of racing and of the duties of officials at race meetings, and it lias been noted that there has been a real improvement during the past year under this heading. Infraction of the rules of trotting have been more seriously recognised, and the penalties more in accordance with the offence, yet stewards should still accept more individual responsibility than, in some instances, they appear to do, and should not leave to the stipendiary stewards all the responsibility of supervising the running. It is more than ever necessary as the sport continues to grow that stewards should be selected for their knowledge of the sport, for their energy and initiative. The waiting for action on the slow march of some overworked official through the ruts of routine will handicap any sport, and is especially baneful in the developing and expanding sport of trotting. Trotting is not a monopoly, we have to compete with other sports for public, favour, and beside this competitive element under different control. our policy must be guided bv sporting and friendly considerations. Public opinion in New Zealand does not admire the great improvement and advance in all issues of trotting, yet we must continue to progress and to keep our household sound and up-to-date, and the general adniisitisration must dominate the position, making its influences felt so that all work for the common good. RACECOURSE INSPECTORS AND ST 11* EX DIARY STEW A R DS.

The racecourse inspectors continue their work to our entire satisfaction, and their excellent work is evidenced by the absence of the undesirable element at our meetings. It is a pleasure to mingle with the cheerful and orderly assemblage of people one meets, and iny advice to anyone who js feeling dull or depressed, is to take a day’s holiday on the first opportunity, and go racing. The general air of cheerfulness and wellbeing pervading the- enclosures with the added interest of the horse racing, will act as a tonic to nnffme who can absorb his surroundings. T know of no holiday where one can secure such a complete change of environment for so little trouble and cost as is to be ob-

tained by a day’s racing in New Zealand. I am glad to be able to report that the work of the stipendiary stewards has shown a. decided advance in their supervision of the racing during the last twelve months. They appear to he profiting by their experience as time progresses and have done noticeably good work in many instances. 1 again appeal to the stewards to give these officials all possible assistance in their duties.

M LAS ELEMENT OF RACECOURSES A matter that I intended to bring forward as a new rule, but unfortunately missed, i s the advisability of all courses being measured by a licensed surveyor with a nermanent post installed. to mark the distance. Now that Sliced of horses is ever on the increase,’ a race distance only a few yards out in its measurement might make a serious flaw in a handicap race. In the meantime, perhaps, the Trotting Association will take this in hand. BRANDING OF HORSES. At our last conference the question as to whether it would ho advisable to brand all horses, was left to your executive to decide,, and we have come to the conclusion that with reasonable oaie the present safeguards for identification are sufficient, and that it is unnecessary to brand the horses. DISTRICT COMMITTEES. The most important amendment to the rules is that proposed by the Canterbury Park Trotting Club that the Trotting Association should be replaced bv District Committees. We all recognise the good work of the association, extending over a long period of years, hut we have to consider that the work is always on the increase, and the difficulty experienced by members having to travel such long distances to attend the meetings is no light matter. It is a heavy tax on the time of busy men to travel frequently from Auckland or Southland to Christclmich, besides the expense to clubs; and also it- would undoubtedly be better for appeal cases to be heard by a district committee, whereby lhhch time and expense would he spared. It is a question whether the time is quite ripe lor this change, and it i s for you to decide that question to-day. CLASSIC RACES. We have seen a decided advance i» class-racing during the past season, with three clubs, the Otahuhu, the Wellington, and the Ashburton, each putting a I 'free-for-all” on their program me. The success of the race in' each instance, and the intense interest of the public in the contests, should encourage other clubs to initiate races of a similar condition, not necessarily a “free-for-all,” but a class-race where all the horses either start from one mark or else are arbitrarily handicapped according to their age. These contests bring many people to the race meetings who do not ordinarily attend, and there is no question hut that the classic race in a day’s trotting gives the thrill of the afternoon. CHANGE OF RACING TO TROTTING OR VICE VERSA. A very important clause in last session’s Gaming Amendment Bill was that giving ;f racing, trotting, or hunt club the option of changing over to one of the other sports. This power might cause a great deal of trouble and friction if not intelligently handled, and your executive have given the matter mjucih consideration. You all /know how essential it is that the sports of racing and trotting should work together for the common welfare; unless we had been united we would have had no chance of obtaining our extra, days and little chance of seeing the reduction in taxation which we are now promised. W7t.li this in view. ;it was left to the president of the Racing Conference and myself to come to a working arrangement on this point, and we decided that neither sport should he allowed to gahr a permit or permits at the expense of the other, and that neither conference would agree to the registration of a club changing from racing to trotting or vice versa, excepting -with the consent of the two conferences. I made this compact with the president of the Racing Conference oil the understanding that lie would bring before the Racing Conference the question of allowing any racing club who could show good cause to their president to include up to three trotting races on any one day’s programme. Wei know that there are clubs who are finding it increasingly difficult to carry on, and it is believed that the inclusion of trotting races on their programmes will be of considerable assistance to them and will helii to consolidate the sport in their districts. WORK OF DATES COMMITTEE.

The nineteen additional days allotted to trotting add considerably to the work of the Dates Committee, and to the difficulty of arranging dates to suit ail concerned. Prior to each new season the Dates Committee recommends on which clays the clubs shall race, hut tlie committee’s work continues all through the year, because, as the season progresses some clubs find that for valid reasons it becomes necessary to •change their dates, and the consent of the Dates Committee has to be obtained. In every case where a club’s interests are ikely to be detrimentally affected tlie club concerned is communicated with and du e weight is given to tlie representations made, and despite tlie difficulty of fitting in dates to suit all the clubs, we have been successful in the past in avoiding any serious friction.

APPEAL TO CONFERENCE. An appeal of considerable .importance was made to the conference recently against a decision of the association. The 'facts are as follow: Two men were disqualified by a club on tlie ground of inconsistent running, and their appeals to the association were dismissed. At a club meeting following closely upon that- where the disqualifications were imposed, but before the appeals were heard, tlie two disqualified persons were allowed to be present and to race thoi'r horses. The association wrote to tlie club advising it that allowing such disqualified persons to take- part at its meeting was a contravention of the rules, as pointed out by tlie association through the stipendiary steward, whose action in collection with the matter was confirmed.

The club appealed to the conference against the association’s finding. The appeal judges met and decided that the club was at fault in allowing the disqualified men to enter and remain on the course, hut supported the club in its contention that the association had erroneously decided that the club had contra veiled the rules by allowing horses owned by tlie disqualified persons to start at the club’s meeting in the interregnum between the disqualification and the endorsement thereof by tlie association. The horses were not disqualified, but the fact of the club having disqualified the connections raised Uic question as to whether the horses became automatically disqualified also. Under the rules the horses were not affected until the time of notification of the owner’s disqualification in the calendar. It has been contended that the disqualification of a person (which takes effect fm-

mediately on all courses) disables him racing his horses for the particular period mentioned, but the judges ruled otherwise. Their opinion is that under the rules, during that period, a disqualified person shall not enter an> course but nevertheless his horses may be raced thereon. CONCLUSION. jn conclusion, gentlemen, 1 wish to sav that it is a privilege to preside over the body of sportsmen who attend tills conference table. In this room we have our differences of opinion and disagreements, and are divided at times on more or less important affairs that come before ns for discussion and decision ; lint once outside again we mingle one with the other, the best of friends, aiul the reason for this is that we one and all are working to the best of our ability for the good ol tlic sport of trotting, and whilst we may have different views as to the best method, of arriving; at our goal, yet we can feel that all arc actuated by the same motives, can rest satisfied that year by year we are building up a sport that will last for all time and which steadily gather* friends and adherents because of the sound and straightforward policy and management bv this conference, assisted by the Trotting Association and by tile clubs throughout the Dominion.