THE TINKLE, TINKLE OF THE TOTE BELL

NZ Truth, Issue 1127, 7 July 1927, Page 1

THE TINKLE, TINKLE OF THE TOTE BELL

Archaic Manual Betting-Machine Is Tattered Remnant 'Of The Bad Old Davi

POSITION OF PARSIMONIOUS RACING CLUBS

An up-to-date electric totalisator m 'use i.at , Ellerslie racecourse, Auckland, which has the whole -hearted support of the punting fraternity.

(From "N.Z. Truth's", Special Auckland Rep.)When will the : public of New Zealand revolt against the ' manual totalisatpr? • For years now certain old and well : established clubs, despite continual representation for ttfe installation of the electric totalisator, have persistently clung to that wholly unsatisfactory;,^ obsolete and, as far as betting, is concerned, expensive imposftibn; the manual totaMsator; V } •'

ALL demands for this much needed 1 reform have met with the reply that lack of- finance is the obstacle. "N.Z. Truth" has hammered away at the clubs who operate these ponderous and unwieldy relics of pioneer days, but no action has been taken nor has the Government seen fit to step m and make the change com^ul^bry. < The time has come when, some definite action must betaken to eliminate for all time a machine which m the past has proved to be a menace m the hands of unscrupulous persons, and which a great, many racegoers firmly I believe is open to fraudulent manipulation. J . This paper do.es \not necessarily endorse the latter viewpoint, but it certVmly does maintain that the wholly unsatisfactory system of/ recording as carried out by the manual totalisator is m itself/ sufficient reason for creating such , an impression. ; $. It must be remembered that already m the public mind there is fertile soil heavily laden' with suspicion of the manual tote, which dates back -to those hectic days when certain turf . episodes smelt to high, heaven of crookedness both inside and outside the totalisator^ How It Works . Certainly since those times Government inspectors have been appointed, but here again it must not be forgotten that this supervision is regarded by the public as being absolutely inadequate. Now, is there any valid reason whatever for the retention of these nonelectric machines on courses where the clubs concerned have a revenue of more than thirty-five' thousand, pounds approximately for each day of their meetings? # In this article "N.Z. Truth" provides the public with solid facts, the logic of which cannot be lightly brushed aside. In the arguments brought forward to support our contention • that the manual tote- must, be eradicated from certain race clubs the time-worn and threadbare' excuse that lack of finance is £he real obstacle 'to *this progressive step is shattered.' .. "* Where large turnovers are recordec on the manual totalisator it is practically impossible for the machine t( operate efficiently. ' By this is meant that, unlike tin electric totalisator, the betting publi<

is never m a position t o know with certainty to what extent any particuv- / lar horse is ! /'. being sup- / ported until / after the tote" / has closed!; ■ ■. . /. , -, <\ pere"; ! jiye :"aome; : ; il-> / >' Trotting^ Club's i'meeWng ; ' '■/■■■■ held m Alubkland some / little time ago. ''\ ■■■ ■■';.;■; '•'V / Gri the last race of the :f|rst / day the grand total shown at '{ the top of the machine m the outsjde .'enclosure S/vas greatly; m, excels . of the total of the : tickets) on thY individual' horses-: •'■_•'• This -. excess, : which;; became apparent as soon as, -the betting .reached the 200.0 ' markj increased 'from; 500 to 800 then 1100, and when' the tote closed down. the 'excess" was 950 odd. '* ■ Now wheri\ the machine/ stopped there was /showing 1 p'ri/the . grand tptal approximately ,6500 .whereas .the sum of the totals on the individual horses was approximately '5560^ , . ■''■■ r . ■■■■■.; v , . .As usual pii the final adjusttnent, after the tote closed, about 500 more tickets were rung; tjp.. on ' the' individual ltorses sb that if all had been m order the grand : total 'should then, have 'been m the neighborhood-; of What happened? The : gr4rid ; ."total' was moved back to 6000 odd . , which > of , course was correct!' .■;■'.. .", *] > :, ' Some Figures. . ; Vit'[ -X ■ Here.isaoothe'r sample' oh !the .sixth race oh th/ second 'day after the ; bet^ ting was ..pfo.perly iin priogre'ss: totals" showing 'against the ('. individual horses were 160, ; 340; 70, 70,^20, 80, 210, 230; 180, 220; ;300, 150, v 9oo— total 2930. /The^griand total at this, "stage showed asVbeirigJ^gSOJßorr; lust 1000 m excess. This nic ( ant that any: ,;of the , horse's seemed 'to paying a; great' deal more than they factually fvwere'. .' ' ''„'''': ■'.'•'■ The position at' the closing of the machine .was: 210, 460, 90,, 70, 50, 150,' 276,: 240, 210/ : 230/ .320, 1,50,. 1000-^total 3500. : The grand total was 4400,a dif-i ference,\6f 900. , ; . ; ■When the final adjustment was made after the tote: closed' the figures: read : 260,. '504, 75; 99^ 49,' 178, 313, 327, 265, 263/375,1 52, i2o9—total'4o69, - '■:''■ v^fter, thus adding 569 tickets. to the, indiyidual'; horses' numbers the grand total- :wjals "i! then': shifted .'•, bacTc by ; 331 J tickets;tp agree with the total, 4069. 1 'There are numerous other illustrations I'Truiih".'. cpiild give where the figures taken from the -manual, tote at prjLctically .every x important meeting show ' the same unsatisf actory> record .during, the process of betting: ; ; '' ; ;- 'iT.his paper. i does not ,;'foc 6n& : / ■moment 1 insinuate that there; is any /sinister design .behind 'this' faulty; ■. operating.; :* The explanation.; Vliesr Hn^the inability,: of those 'operating ; the machine to cope with the betV Who are the sufferers? The iriyest-; ing 'pudUc, of, course, s^nbe; those", patro'nisirig the ;• 'inachinev\are being wrongly informed;^ a^ . j to^ ihe '. support accbrded individual' hprsesifahd^in .the expectation of 'tlje t|iie'y' may ahtibipate; ' ;■, ■;;..'h^ : . ■?X&i' r }< '■'"■ ' ■'■ 'w •' 1 ; The addition of -'IO,OO tp the 'grand total would mean m -tlife' case : of a short-price! horse prpbabiy^^ .a'. 1 dividend of £2 ihsteas-;pf the antfcip^te'd;; divi^ dend , of "::£.&^ Aga^,- mkny -bkcker would not back, a horse at ail' at -the smaller jiprice and, under feju ing con'V^eyf ; | are beins induced to wager, undej* false repre■^entatipiis/v, 'i ' ' /Th% unsatisf actcry methods of recording are but. one phare only of the manual t machine" operations as l adversely affecting the ii/tvest'ing public. , Another source of /annoyance and one ) which' seriously J handicaps the public is '.the .position «f the inside and outside manual totaliaators on certain courses. i / They are usually Jso far separated that it is impossib|fe for the outside public to see the 'tcjtals on the inside machine and vice -V^rsa. „ it. ■ . 1

No provision is ever made to record the total figures of both machines for the public information. Glaring instances m this respect are furnished m the case of Alexandra Park, Takapuna and Waikato. Apart from all other considerations it is not clear why the system adopted at Addington lias not been similarly adopted by other clubs. On- this course the outside totalisator is placed close tq the dividing: fence to'i the inside tote so ,that the totals of both machines are clearly visible to both &ets of patrons. There is still one other serious objectidn to the manual totalisator and that is the 'delay caused between the ,time the machirie~ actually' closes down and the time, the race commences. The average time allowed by the clubs for the machine to set its records m final order before the face* commences is seven minutes^ It is the exception rather than the rule for^ the horses to get away on .time. Usually there is a delay of a.t least,' ten» while on occasion fifteen and even -twenty minutes has been known to elapse before the race starts. Now, the sum total of all this jueans simply that where huge sums of money are being handled, and particularly m respect of the last-minute heavy rush to get both ticket bets on as well as commission bets, it is practically impossible, as has, already been pointed out, for the machine to keep pace with 1 its operations. Comparisons There is not the slightest doubt that the case against the use of these machines has been amply proven. Now, "Truth" asks its readers to carefully study the following figures showing their season's turnover of the clubs mentioned, and the average amount of revenue per » day of each meeting. 1 „ , < ELECTRIC TOTALISATOR ' Meeting Daily Club. Days. Average. < ■ £ Feilding '4 26,290 Manawatu . .' 5 ?2,923 Wanganui \ - § 28,183 Canterbury J.C. „ 10 45,748 ♦Wellington 10 55,103 tAvondale „.., 4 49,543' * Note: This^season's winter meeting not having **dken place the total figures stated .include the previous winter meeting figures for comparison, "t These figures are taken from this season's meeting held at Ellerslle, where ; the electric tbtalisatbr is m operation. They show an average' of over $49,000 per day, but if it were possible to have had the meeting at Avbndale it would be safe to conclude that v the average would ' be at least over £40,000 per day. The following figures show the ' revenue received by 1 non- electric, or comrqonly known as manual totalisators, at the clubs mentibned: 1 v ' Meeting Daily ' Club. Days. ' Average. »/ £ Auckland T.C 7 55,216 N.Z. Metrop. T.C. . 9 44,038 Dunedii: J.C 8 28,675 , -Fbrbury Park T.C. 6 ( 28,580 Takapuna J.C ■ 4 45,029 ♦Otahuhu T.C „ 4 49,161 •' Note: Meeting held on Auckland Trotting* Club's -course for whlc^l privilege a I substantial rental is padd, to the Jatter club. , The argument put forward by these "clubs' still. Operating the non-electric totalisator is thjeir inability tof finance the installation of an up-to-date electric machine. ( "Truth's" answer to this excuse will readily, be seen bjr a comrfarison of the figurea quoted above, witto special reference to the smaller "cmbs such as Feilding, Manawatu an<l s Wanganui Where electric to^alisa'prs have been installed. ' , ' >\j/

' ■ • '. :,. .' . -.■• rr ; 71 he* use of the ' manual totdlisatbr; has long ' been the ■ subject of ■ criticism ■by , pafroris of the { smaller \, racecourses m N'e v) Ze&dnd;

If these three small clubs, where j.h& average daily revenue m two instances' is, m round figures, below £ 30,000, and m the other instance £32,000, can; finance electric tptalisators, it is absurd m the extreme for clubs such as the; Auckland H Trotting Club, with 'a,' daily average revenue of £55,216 (or slightly more than Wellington), the Taka-, puna JVC. £45,029, the Otahuhu T.C. £4?,16f1, , Avondale £40,00.0 and the' iN^Z., i ) ; : >M£tesp<oas v<s*\# p^rao^nn^t®^s^^^ey ? 'lo do^like^iike;"' ■These figures speak conclusively! Possibly the argument will be used m regard to ,the' larger clubs mentioned that are still 1 operating the manual totalisator, because of a bigger populatiqn to cater for the upkeep and general maintenance s is heavier than it is proportionately m the smaller qJubs. ■' Then if this is so compare the average revenue from such clubs as atWellington, Canterbury J.C. and Avondale.' ■ ; \ , These three' clubs have electric tqtalisators. The difference m the average .daily revenue is; so slight between these important clubs and the equally important, Takapuna J;C., Otahuhu TlC.f AubklandlT.C", Ayohdale T.C. and, N.Z. Metropolitan T.C. : as to be negligible. . . ; ..' '' ' „ /. ; '.. • Thevcost. of maintenance cannot,; ! ■ \n refepect ofytheseipliibs^; be ;adf i= v, vanced. as? another reason why the ',■ latter clubs find' it. hard to , finance J the installation of electric tbtatisa-! - : tors.. / ' i - v , ■• ' ; r .■>;-'■ '.'■' ■■■ ■.•■•'/'■ ' /Taking Alexandra 3?ark< course, V for instance,' wliiclr )iS; bwned by the Auckian4 Trotting' Club and the ihtere"sth*g ; fai,ct is disciosed thjat -\vith this ..O^ahuhu^ Trotting 1 Club nieetings;. which are, and have been Jforv years,^ ;held;' ;bn this course, : thesfe\ ; two;r clubs\:between- them have 1 i -days'' ■ r acingV V ' r \'.' v ; ; - ■ V , ■• : : V. is every indication .that the OtahuhU 3?. C., r will:/cbnthiue;with ; ;this ar^arigemeht : >'if or : ',; some years^tb come', and this is ybut brie mdre strbrig; reason tin Vjelectric totalisator ; sHould be j^stalledVat .. Alexdiidrai 'Park course; \ ■| ; Wh6reH the^ public^ are;; solicited to^ patrbhise any rdcecburse for:J.i'|days m th^seaso;!!;' that -public, .has^.Jafxigrht; tbi expect" that the-nlost mbdejr'nvfacilities fbr;betting,;as p'ermitte lature,; shall ■be v : at itsVdispbsal^ 'a; V : :-■ [':■ ';. i There/ is another;; pomt 1 wbrth\menT : ftioriing cpncjerning^ ' the>; cluft^revenue' figures; quoted, andr it is in' 'of the ;^ufel£Vai>d'; : .tfrlotUriff't'C)Oub.^/ali'd'-the. Cahterbury •; ■ Joikey ' j' Cliib. \ Take the; average) ;daiiyA^ir eyenU^f^for ? v both khd. comparison^: vvyiil' ;:discipse> that the Ti<3!. ', has . ' daily, average wiiich Exceeds; ..: the} Cahtei'^uiry ; ; ; J^C, by ; -,"'.■ ; ; ■ • v ■ is'!: i^neraliy,vcpnceded;: Jttat the, Canterbury J.G.i ,,ii\ t^e iriostvimportant club m the 'Dominion. The further , point jriiust not be b.verlbqked ;th^ the Auckland T;C. secures .-tifi's* ,'greater daily- revenue from 7 days'; racing as against the _ Canterbury Jocieyr Club's 10 days. Tet m spite^ of this the former ciub cbnaplains that: it cannot, finance the instaiiatipn bf-the^ el.ec,teic;totaU!3a- s tor-as the latter club has done.. As far as the Dunetlin J.C. and Forbury Park T.C. are concerned, whilst "Truth" realises that their average daily revenue.^ f ar below that of the other clubs mentioned which operate non-elec£ric totalisators, nevertheless what has been-dbne by Feildingr, watu and Wanganui • can also be.' done by them. , , ' >■ «» In the? opinion of this patfer there is positively np excuse' whatever for the 'larger clubs .mentioned failing to properly cater, for the racing public from whom they, with the Government, derive such huge 'revenue. Some, of the/clubs operating. I;he r manual totalisators • have 'spent , ! thousands pf 'pounds m decbnative but, from the point of, view of§«V benefiting the public, useless ii^? , f The clubs, "mentio"he;d^ hav^/ shown unmistakably - 'iat they Vill jfot progrrss with the times, thersfbre it is now up to the Government to, take a hand) '