TOTALISATOR AT HOME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20229, 13 April 1929, Page 11

TOTALISATOR AT HOME.

FOUR TYPES ORDERED. AUSTRALIAN NOT SUITABLE. Australian and N.Z. Press Association. LONDON, April 11. The Betting Control Board has accepted tenders " for the present " of the Lightning Automatic Totalisator Company, the British Automatic Totalisator Company, the Graham Amplion Company, and the Bell Punch and Printing Company. Machines will be installed at the 12 leading racecourses in England, including Newmarket. Probably the first totalisator will be ready at Hurst Park in August. The Graham Amplion Company states that its tender amounted to £IOO,OOO for a machine worked entirely by electricity. The board's decision indicates that it considers the totalisators named to be superior for English purposes to the type used on Australian racecourses, which also were submitted for its consideration. It is stated that orders involving largo sums have been placed with all the firms mentioned, but the figures are not announced.

Tho Morning Post's turf expert says those who havo followed the trend of events are not surprised that the type of totalisator successfully used in Australia was not accepted. For reasons not yet explained tho board did not favour tho Julius machine. The proposed machine has not yet been tested, but it must be assumed that the board secured a model likely to survive a heavy test. An official of the Graham Amplion Company says no totalisator of the type accepted is yet in existence. Its tender was accepted upon drawings, plans and specifications. It is claimed that the electrical operation of this machine makes it simpler and more reliable than the Australian types. The totalisator iri question will issue printed tickets giving tho date, the amount of the bet, tho horse's number, and tho number of the race. The more pressing of a button docs all this. It is claimed that the machine is entirely foolproof. It will be. operated by a small staff of mechanics and clerks. The Daily Telegraph says the lightning automatic totalisator is the invention of Mr. Ward, an Australian, and has been installed at Victoria Park racecourse, Sydney.