CASH PAYMENTS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1367, 12 May 1898, Page 24

CASH PAYMENTS.

Racing cluba, or most of them, are not now ho lenient with horse-owners as they were ttforetime in the matter of allowing undue credit; the result is that they are better off financially. The unpaid Forfeit List, published in the Official Calendar, is an ugly looting document, and is evidence of the great laxity displayed by olubs in permitting nomination and other fees to run up to such an extent that they were unable to procure payment. The Master ton Racing Club is formulating a rather drastic provision for presentation to the next Racing Conference, which, if agreed to, will place clubs on a much better footing than at present; in fact it would have the ultimate effect of abolishing the Forfeit List altogether. The desire of the M.R.C. is that any secretary of a racing institution shall not forward to the handicapper a nomination for which the entry fee has not been paid. In what light the Conference will view this proposal remains to be seen, but objection is certain to be taken to it on the ground of its severity. At present everything is left to the discretion of secretaries; whether they in all cases use that discretion wisely is another matter. It is evident that the majority of them have not done so in the past. "What are termed the "big" owners of horses in this colony generally send their nominations and acceptances without the necessary money, the supposition being that it is " all right/' And no doubt it is ; but if clubs have an agreement with them in that connection, secretaries have not the slightest compunction in taking entries on trust because they know that the men they are dealing with are possessed of means. Offioials are only too glad, as often as not, to secure their entries, especially if they own horses that are likely to add to the attractiveness of their meetings. The argument of the proposers of the suggested ruie will doubtless be that if small", and in Bome oases indigent, owners are pressed to pay at time of entry, the more affluent should do so also, the more so because they are able to. If clubs insisted on cash payments there wouid be no need for a hard and fast rule of the character mentioned. As all olubs are not likely to do anything of the sort, however, there would be an absence of uniformity. This, according to some, shows the necessity for the rule, The smaller fry in the racing world

would be the more nearly concerned; it occasionally comes hard upon thorn when they have to nominate a number of horses for a number of meetings ahead, paying cash out of pocket, whereas the big owners who do the same thing are allowed unlimited credit.