PICNIC RACES

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 57, Issue 3946, 21 January 1948, Page 5

PICNIC RACES

EQUALISATOR ALTERNATIVE SUGGESTED r GAMING COMMISSION’S REPORT When the Royal Commission on J Gaming and Racing sat in Auckland, representatives of the Paeroa Punic Racing Club gave evidence in connection with the operation of til* “ equalisator ” and other matters af- : fecting the welfare of picnic racing clubs. Dealing with, the “ equalisator ” th* t j commission now states that under thia system the clubs have tickets printed bearing the numbers of the starters in the race as appearing on the racecard; persons desiring to participate purchase a ticket and are given the one next available for sale. Com- ; monly no blanks are included, so that s in each sweepstake every ticket sold represents a horse starting in the race. As soon as one £> sweep is filled another is opened, and at the more largely attended meetings a considerable number are filled on each race. Careful Consideration “We have given this matter of sweepstakes at non-totalisator meetings very careful consideration from ' every point of view,” the report continues. “We cannot regard their • promotion, as allowed by law, to be • * anything in the nature of a social evil. Wherever there is a contest be- » tween horses, human nature is such,, that people will, by. some means, contrive to create for them selves.— financial interest in the result. If these sweepstakes were abolished, people would still wager among themselves and, what is worse, there would r be an additional inducement for amateur and not too reputable professional bookmakers to operate on the courses.

Flagrant Evasion of Law “Nevertheless, Mr J. W. Heenan ' and Mr W. H. Freeman, two of the three members of* the Commission, regard the system now current as a flagrant evasion of the law regarding sweepstakes, an evasion which can neither be condoned nor looked 4n with complacency. T%ey point oat that it is a clear breach of the Race Meetings Act, 1909, so far as the clubs are concerned. The remedy, they ' think, is a strict enforcement of the law as set out in Section 46 of the Gaming Act, 1908, so that deduction* by clubs or other promoters will be effectively prevented. Enforcement will also prevent any division of fib* - pool between the first and second horses. “ The,chairman, Mr Justice Finlay, , regards the practice as in itself innocuous and necessary to promote the greater enjoyment of the sport by those attending the meeting. In the absence of other provisions, it is also necessary, he thinks, as. a means of providing the humble prizes for which the contests are held. Having regard, however, to their necessity as a mean* of enjoyment alone, he would amend Section 45 to make the present practice legal. Provision of Prizes “ If that course is not adopted, then we are agreed that some other means ♦ of providing prizes must be found for the elimination of the picnic meetings which would result if the clubs were deprived of necessary Income would deprive many people of pleasure, the circumstances of whose occupations preclude them from,much in the way of communal pleasure. “ The difficulty can be met, and whatever is done concerning sweepstakes, we recommend that it be met by each conference being authorised to make an annual levy upon the totalisator clubs under its jurisdiction of such an aggregate amount as is equal to the aggregate prize money paid out by the non-totalisator clubs under ite control during the year 1946. “The aggregate amount thus annually made available could then be distributed to the picnic clubs so that each would receive a sum equal to the sum which was paid in prizes during 1946. The levy should be made in the proportions which the fractions retained by each totalisator club in each year bears to the total sum retained by all clubs during the year as fractions. These fractions amounted during the 1946-47 season to a total sum of £91,500.”