BETTING ON THE TURF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20235, 20 April 1929, Page 19

BETTING ON THE TURF.

[CONDITIONS IN AUSTRALIA.

lure of the bookmaker.

SOME STRIKING FIGURES.

[FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. ] SYDNEY, April 11. The hold which betting on horscracing lias on tho people of New Zealand and (Australia has been under review here. On account of tho different conditions in both countries nothing liko a comparison is possible, but tho figures that have been published are of great interest nevertheless. The totalisator investment!; at tho autumn meeting of four days amounted to £299,540. A leading Sydney bookmaker, who is a recognised turf authority, estimated that, outside tho totalisator, £2,000,(100 changed hands in wagers. Totalisator betting is not very popular ■with tho racing public of Australia. Tho regular patrons,of tho sport invest with the bookmakers, and it is impossible to gauge accurately tho amount oi money which changes hands during a big meotin" at Randwick, but the £2,00)3,000 already mentioned may bo regarded as a moderate estimate. On such important races as tho Doncaster Handicap and the Sydney Cup it, is estimated that about £200,000 changes hands over each race. In the saddling paddock at Randwick there aro 144 bookmakers, and the majority of them make books on tho principal handicaps of between £SOO and £7OO Three or four of t.lio largest operaiois work on £BOOO books, and about half a dozen incur liabilities of about £oooo ea ch The first/ thirty bookmakers have an a< T cre' r ate of about £ISOO each, leaving approximately £IOO,OOO between the remainder of the bookmakers iin the saddling paddock, and 147 bookmakers in the Reserve, and tho 130 bookmakers on the Flat. j On tho less important races the size of tho-books is decreased, and in arriving at an estimate for tho four days consideration must also bo given to the fact that invariably tho first two days of tho big fixture attract, tho largest crowds. The money that cnauges hands on the first two days is considerably more than half the grand total of tho meeting. During the year 1927-28 the totalisators in New South Wales put 'through £2.350.209. Of that amount £1,447,712 •was invested at Metropolitan registered meetings and £641,387 at the unregistered ponv meetings. Investments in the country amounted to £241.110. In New South Wales the totalisator always; has the strong open opposition of the bookmaker. In New Zealand, it is pointed out, tho totalisator provides tho only legal facilities for wagering on a racecourse and the annual investments in 1928 exceeded £7,000,000. The exact figures, according to the Year Book, were £7,634,077 invested on 2523 races on 319 days, and for stakes amounting to '£591,780. This total of investments in New' Zealand was exceeded in 1924, 1925, and 1926, and in the latter year the amount put through tho machine was £8.605,582. _ o it If the totalisator figures in New South Wales approached anything like those reached in the Dominion many a small racing club would cease to have financial worries, and the Government, too. would have an easier mind as far as its finances go. Still, the bookmaker in Australia is in an unassailable position. The public wants him, and ho is bound to stay.