VITALITY OF RACING

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 193, 30 July 1932, Page 8 (Supplement)

VITALITY OF RACING

“EXTRAORDINARY,” SAYS THE BETTING BOARD. ELECTRIC TOTE PROVING A SUCCESS. The passion of the average Englishman for “his : little flutter” finds illustration in the annual report of the Racecourse Betting Control Board issued during the week-end (says an English writer). It discloses that with the totalisator alone twelve and a-half million bets were made in 1931. The amount invested was £3,886,650, against £3,259,502 for 1930.

The income was “sufficient to meet all operating and administrative expenses and to provide a substantial' portion of the interest on borrowed capital.” > The electric “tote” is confined to seven courses, and portable “totes” are used on other courses. During the year the “tote” was in operation on sixty-eight courses. At Ascot the “tote” has 156 windows for selling tickets and 176 windows for paying dividends.

“Throughout the year,” says the report, “there has been no diminution of the public interest in the totalisator nor in its popularity with the racing public. “Where, on certain racecourses, particularly in the northern area, there has been a diminution in business as compared with 1930 the cause has generally been traceable to decreased attendances.

“On the other hand, there have been many cases of both business and attendances being larger than in the preceding year, and on the whole racing as a national sport has shown an extraordinary vitality. “Although disappointment was naturally expressed at the delay in producing profits which would in accordance with the provisions of the Act have been devoted to racing, improving breeds of horses, and horse racing, there was general recognition of the exceptionally difficult financial conditions of the time and their effect on all the activities connected with racing.” It is claimed in the report that if a backer placed a level stake oj £1 on every winning and placed horse during the year he would have received from the “tote” £40,798, while from the bookmaker he would have received £29,531, or an advantage of 38 per cent, in favour of the backer who used the “tote.”

During the year the cost of new equipment and interest incurred during construction amounted to £134,975, thus making the total expenditure on equipment up to December 31, 1931, of £1,169,798.

Opedating expenses amounted to £247,290, as against £225,141 for the preceding year, and the administration expenses were £51,508, compared with £48,932 for 1930.

It is expected that there will be a decrease under this head, as there has been a reduction in salaries of £3OO and over.

The concluding paragraph of the report states:—

“The accounts show a considerable improvement as compared with those of 1930, and it is hoped that in consequence of the economies which have been effected a further substantial improvement will be shown in the operating results of 1932, provided that there is no important reduction in the amounts staked with the totalisator.”