WELLINGTON RACING CLUB

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 10087, 28 September 1918, Page 11

WELLINGTON RACING CLUB

PRESIDENTIAL REVIEW OF OPERATIONS. The president of the Wellington Racing Club, Mr Harcourt, reviewed the past year's operations at the annual meeting yesterday. He said that owing to the reduction in the days of racing the returns must of a necessity show a considerable falling off compared with last year's, but nevertheless the club s financial position iB improved and the result of the year is a credit balance ot ,£3726 19s 9d. as compared with ,£s2bl 7s Id in 1917. On the asset side the buildings and property are reduced by ,£503 10s, and sundry debtors and mortgages now stand at ..£8133 7s 3d, an increase of ,£5947 10s lid; the bank balance is reduced from .£3060 16s 7d to JJ7SO 9s Bd. In the revenue account there are heavy reductions in expenditure under nearly all headings. The stakes paid were .£17,151 8s against ,£28,170. Government taxation was .£13,630 13s 4d; last year it was ,£20,047 Is lOd. The principal reductions under the other headings are:—Salaries, .£278 6s; Tent, rates, etc.,-.£493 Ws 2d; attendance, .£297 14s 6d; music, £ll2 15s; N.Z. Racing Conference, ,£233 5s 2d. The credit balance is £3726 19s 9d Last year it was £5261 7s Id—a reduction of £1534 7s 4d. The increases under the heading are: Maintenance, £502 14sj horse feed, £233 18s 9d. Other items remain very much the same. The receipts also show large reductions. The totalisator income was ,£33,032 16s lOd compared with reduction of. £15,414 14s. Gate money was £3317 14s 11 as compared with £5226 lis 4d, a reduction of £IBOB 16s sd, but this is largely owinpt to no charge being made for admission to the paddock since railway accommodation has been cut off. Nominations and acceptances are less by £2416. Privileges, racebooks, etc., £996 lis Id eas compared with £1499 10s—a reduction of £502 19s 7d. In 1917 £2973 2s was received from railways, last year no receipts are shown. The general result is that the total receipts for 1918 are £43,718 19s 7d as compared with £66,442 16s lOd—a reduction of £22,723 17s 3d; RESTRICTION OF RACING. In consequence of the continuance of the -war raoing in Wellington during the past Beason was restricted to six days; two of these days were public holidays (Labour Day and Anniversary Day), three were Saturdays, and only one—a day in mid-winter—was a business day. "1 think it will be admitted that we cannot, in the face of this, bo acoused oi over-indulgence, nor can wie, which is much more important, be accused of interfering with the war work of th people," said Mr Harcourt. "While -a*•till hears demands for the abolition oi raoing (mostly from those who do not understand its importance) it surely cannot be seriously sukgested that if races wtere abolished altogether thp publtHi would work on these public holidays anu Saturday afternoons. It is significan that even in Germany, hard pressed as she must be, racing still flourishes, ano! the stakes given by only a few of the important clubs during the past season were over £IOO,OOO. One can quite understand the necessity in England for severe curtailment, or almost total abolition, owing: to the enormous amount ot, war work -fihe people there have in hand. The conditions here are entirely diff ent, and speaking for the sporting community, I am sure that if any good purpose were to be served we would not cavil at total abolition. Anyone who gives serious thought to the question ol the enormous loss which would bo cause. to breeders, owners, and employees in th event of abolition, must admit that i far no sound reason- has been vouchsafed, to warrant suoh a stop.

_"Thi,s' opportunity, .should.,. not pass without 'referring to the treatment that the racing pubßo has received at the hands of the Railway Department, during the whole of the past season. To any business man it is incomprehensible that a highly profitable source of revenue should not only be refused, but, further, that the department should appear to have gone, out of its way to cause as much inconvenience to the racing public as possible. New Zealand people have not got a surfeit of pleasures, and perhaps one might venture to predict that if there was a little more pleasure in:...the. country there would be a little less labour unrest and discontent. The action of the railway authorities, has made it particularly difficult for the working classes to enjoy a day's racing except at prohibitive oost. Members of the club may be assured that its executive has done all in its power to have this railway matter remedied. It has not asked for specialfacilities; it has only asked that the ordinary services be made available, where possible, to fit in with the whole £1 the traffio offering, and even this as been denied." ACCOMMODATION AT TRENTHAM. Referring to the lack of accommodation at the course, Mr Harcourt said that the present stands are obsolete and are rapidly wearing out. Beyond keeping them safe, eo far as human life is ooncerned, no money has been spent on them. This point was emphasised, as an erroneous opinion seemed to be abroad that racing clubs iexisted for profit-making. This, of course, is not eo. The whole of the revenue of the olub wa3 returned to the pubiio, either by way of stakes or in providing suitable accommodation. The surplus that the club had in hand for the latter purpose had been accumulated purely and simply at the expense of the liorseowner. The property at Trentham had become a very valuable asset, and while it was nominally the property of the Wellington Racing Club, in effect it really belonged to the Wellington genoral public. The race track itself was admitted to bo one of the finest in Australasia. In addition there was for training purposes a sand gallop, a tan gallop, and six grass gallops each ?ott wide, and the various other faoilitids were gradually being made as perfect as possible. The sum of .£57,935 14s lid had been paid in taxation since the war started; this was equal to £I4OO per month for each month the war had been in pro?ross. This sum had been provided by he racing public only. No sports body in the country other than racing was paying taxation of any moment -whatever, and it was a pleasure to recommend the cheerfulness with whioh this money appeared to bo provided. The (totalisator turnover per day's racing, both here and throughout New Zealand, had increased considerably during the <»ast year. This was in a measure due to the general prosperity. • but there was another contributing factor which must not b* lost sight of, and that was thai in the past a large volume of the betting went through tho hands of the bookmaker and was never disclosed. It was satisfactorry to know that this volume was greatly diminishing, and if tho Legislature would give back the double totalisator tho bookmaker would soon entirely disappear. The president concluded his remarks with an expression of appreciation cf the services rendered by the staff of the olub. Especially was the club indebted to tho secretary, Mr A. E. Whyte, for the ability shown in the management of the club's affairs.