Manawatu Trotting Club

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 65, 18 March 1936, Page 6

Manawatu Trotting Club

OLD HISTORY The coming meeting of the Manawatu Trotting Club, to be held on April 18 and 22, will he, in a way, a silver jubilee meeting, as it. will he the 25th annual meeting held by tho club, but only the 22nd annual totalisator meeting. Tho first meeting for tho formation of tho club was called by Mr George White, a former resident of Palmerston North, and was held in tho old Clarendon hotel. Mr Fred Nathan presided and was elected tho first president of the club; the lato ‘ lim Jewell was elected secretary, but later on the secretarial duties were taken ovr by Mr Eric Watson, who was at that time employed in tho Manawatu Racing Club office. On Mr Watson leaving the district Mr IV. McKenzie took over the secretarial duties, and on his retirement in 1917, Mr A. H. Manson, the present secretary, was appointed to the position. For the first three years the club carried on without a tote permit, and tho complete records of this period are not available.

Looking over some of the old records, one finds that in June, 1915, the club gave £395 in stakes and the totalisator turnover was £4911. The Cup raco that year was won by Mr J. H. Lloyd’s Ngaraima. The 1916 meeting was held on February 1? and tho tote turnover dropped to £4413. <ln this year the dividend tax came into opi ration, and a remarkable dividend was paid out on the winner of the first race. Queen’s Patch, a red-hot favourite, won and returned her army of supporters 17s Cd. for each £1 invested. The Cup that year was won by Pax, driven by Free Holmes, with Harold Devon, driven by the late Manny Edwards, second and Whisht, driven by the late Andy Pringle, third. Queen’s Patch won a double and paid under “evens” the second time. The 1917 meeting was held in May, and a substantial increaso to £9492 -was shown in the tote turnover with stakes at £550. St. Leo, driven by Andy Pringle, won the Cup on that occasion.

April, 1918, was a boom year for tho club, the stakes being £665 and the totalisator turnover £18,803; but it was to rise still higher later on. The Manawatu Cup was won by Miss Havoc, driven by J. Messervy, with Dillon Direct (A. Pringle) second and Sally Brass (J. Brankin) third. The next meeting was held on December 28, 1918, and owing to the influenza epidemic that had broken out shortly before, and a wet day, the tote turnover dropped to £10,334, while the stakes had been raised to £I2OO, and consequently the club showed a big loss. The big race was won by Mr J. 11. Lloyd’s Hal Junior, driven by H. Jones. The largest field of the day was 8, in the Maiden, and in most of the races there was only one dividend. The 1920 meeting was held on April 23, and a return to prosperity was shown by the club putting £21,423 through "the tote, the club giving £I2OO in stakes for the day. Mr Lloyd again supplied the winner of the Cup in Master Hal, who was driven by Harry Jones. Attached to the Cup handicap this year was a gold cuf> valued at £SO, presented by Mr Geo. Craw. The following year the club reached its highest turnover by putting through £23,222 and gave £I4OO in stakes for the day. Mr A. E. Adams won tho Cup that year with William I, who was bracketed with Mr J. R. Corrigan’s Bushchild, Mr Woodfield’s Warlock being second and Mr J. H. Lloyd’s Waiteranui in third place. The meeting in 1922 was held on January 18, the stakes for the day being again £I4OO, but the totalisator returns dropped' to £II,SOO. Prinzora was the winner of the Cup in that year and was driven by Jack Shaw, with Warlock again second and Taraire, driven by Jas. Bryce, third. For the-year 1923 the meeting was again held in January and the tote showed £14,083 at the end of the day. Coal Light, driven by J. Lynch, of Auckland, was the winner of the Gobi Cup that year, with Ramaroa second and Taraire again in third place. This •was a case of a horse winning at his second consecutive start, as Coal Light Light had started in the previous race, the Stewards’ Handicap, of 2 miles, and was narrowly defeated by Cute Lad. The stakes for the 1923 meeting had been dropped to £IO7O, but were raised to £1145 for 1924, the tote turnover being £12,270. Mr J. R. Corrigan supplied the w'inner of the cup that year in Ivy Audubon, driven by Jas. Bryce, with Waiterere second and Ramaroa third. In the year 1925 the tote turnover was £10734, but from then on dropped considerably, and in 1931 was only £6059 and the club, in keeping its stakes up, had a very lean time. The Cup races in the years from 1925 to 1933 (inclusive) were

won by Waitererc, Sea Pearl, The Shrew, Shadowland, Richore, Logan’s Pride, Rangihau, Manco, Highland Derby and Bell o’ Mine, and several of these reached high-class company later. From 1926 to 1933 (inclusive) the club was obliged to hold its meetings at Ashhurst, and while good racing was witnessed on the suburban course the public, with the slump on, failed to attend in the numbers sufficient to make the meetings successful financially. Fortunately in 1934 the Manawatu Racing Club again granted the use of its beautiful course atAwapuni, with its electric tote machine and up-to-date appointments, and the last two meetings held there have been quite successful and the prospects for the coming two-day meeting in April look very. bright. The Cup in 1934 was won by Paul Drusus (J. Bryce, jnr.), with Hard Words (C. S. Donald) second and Bell o’ Mine (W. Pope) third, and in 1935 the big race was annexed by Nobleman, with Guymond and Rackateer in the minor places. The club has formed a training track on Mr Allan Farland’s property in Fitzroy street, which is kept in good order with the help of local trainers, and answers their purposes admirably. Messrs W. Mouldey, 11, J. Woodfieid, E. B. Vine: and F..Pycroft were among thrum who attended the first meeting