DO STIPES WINK AT RACE-RIGGING ?

NZ Truth, Issue 1255, 19 December 1929, Page 1

DO STIPES WINK AT RACE-RIGGING ?

CONTROL SHOULD BE MORE STRINGENT AND INQUIRIES MORE FREQUENT TOTE FIGURES THAT DEMAND SOME ACTION

gmiiiumniiiiiiiiiiinniiiinuiiiniiimniiiiiiiiiiniiiuiiiHniiiiiiiiMHiMniuuiiniuniiiiiuiiinnniHnniiummiuiuiimuiiuHiinuuiiMimuiinimmimiiiv | Is there laxity m the control of racing m New Zea- | | land? Do the' stipendiary stewards, both galloping and | | trotting, inquire and probe as often as they should? \ 1 Is the huge outlay m salaries paid each season bringing 1 | results that it should? j | These are questions which the big majority of those 1 | who supply the sinews of war — the ten shilling and I 1 pound punters — are ever ready to answer m the nega- f | tive. " ■ ■ 1 1

QTIPENDIARY stewards are' m the ►J unique position of being m charge of the conduct of race meetings, 3*et having no direct say m final deliberations which have been brought about at their instigation. They control, 'without having control, and it must be this position of cross purposes which has brought about the loss of interest m their jobs. '. To-day the stipes ( are suffering from sleeping sickness. Either thati or they have been given an injection from the inertia bottle. Whatever be the cause of this laxity there is no gainsaying the fact that there is too much of the do-as-you-please attitude adopted, and uhpse who are m the position to take advantage of this state of affairs are not following- the lead set them, and going to sleep. on the job. Racehorses, like human beings, are temperamental, and there are dajfs when they do not run consistently; that is as consistently as form indicates thej r should run. . ' . ■ This AVill ever be so, but jxist at present there are far too many temperamental horses. There is too much inconsistencj'. "N.Z." Truth," m its round of the race meetings of the Dominion, is satisfied

that there is not the great amount of underhand tactics adopted as some will have, 'but, nevertheless, there are any amount of incidents that could well be threshed out "upstairs." Surely there must be forthcoming some sort of a tangible explanation when a hoi-se one day, unbacked, runs nowhere, and, on the next, carries good money and displays running that warranted the increase m support. Many^ owners and trainers would welcome the opportunity to tell officials about ,the change, and even m cases where the' connections would rather let sleeping dogs lie, an indication to the outside world that an inquiry had been held and that the "explanation had been accepted," would do a great deal to ease the public mind. The holding, of such inquiries would be an indication that the reversals had been at least noticed. . But, under the present policy, what appear on the . face . to be flagrant breaches are passed by unheeded. • Back m the winter there was the case of Overhaul. He had won a race at Ellersiie and m a weak class field at South Canterbury he looked a great betting- proposition, but he could only run third to two very ordinary class hurdlers. ' . Those who had seen him win up north only had one opinion, and that there was no inquiry was astonishing; yet, on the other hand, had there been an inquiry there would have been a perfectly good excuse, offered. The, horse had dona nothing since. Auckland, rain and snow-logged tracks having prevented his working. When, a little over a fortnight later Overhaul won both the Trentham and Winter Hurdles, defeating class fields, the South Canterbury stipe, and those

illilMlllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllltlllllllllllHlllllllllllMlllllllllllllllllllllllllinil^ associated with him, must have felt ridiculous. To some of those engaged m stipeing the minor issues are made the major. The inspection of gear, looking for r.usty iron*, and. such other infinitesimal, duties attached to the position, are whole-time jobs with them. Technicalities and theoretical breaches obscure the main principle involved — clean, honest race riding. Trotting lends itself to abuse parhaps niore than galloping, and m this branch -of. racing-there is a J lot queried by others than whose job it is to do the questioning:. At the recent Otahuhu meeting three winners oh the second day had finished outside the money on the opening day — liimosa, Mountain Dell and Rose Bingen. Root of the Trouble The case of Limosa was taken vp — she had started early on the second day and finished out of a place. Totalisator figures always make interesting reading and here is the money entrusted on Limosa m her • three starts:- First day, fourth favorite, £33414; second day, first start, seventh favorite, £300; second start, when she won, second favorite, £104 V/ 2 . That there was justification for the inquiry the figures plainly '• aho-vv, but the cases of Mountain Dell and Rose Bingen were on practically all fours, and nothing was said there. Rose Bingen carried £204 and £626 and Mountain Dell was entrusted with £341 Yz and £1153, m each case the bigger support being accorded on the right occasion. If it was consistent to question Limosa, surely, some sort of an explanation could have been expected from the other' two. Doubtless a perfectly sound arid logical excuae could have been given m each 'case, and the stipes may have known of this, but it was their duty to inquire and thus reassure the public. The root of the trouble with the stipes is not that they are inefficient, but that they . are bereft of support that should be given them. So long as amateur control is 'allowed, so long will there be confusion and muddling. The amateur is too prone to allow personalities to enter into an inquiry, and, knowing the owner carpeted, the -amateur steward, holding the key to the situation, wipes the case out. "Truth" can fully understand and sympathise with the position of the present day stipe, but we cannot hold with the attitude of pique he seems to have adopted. Take them all on, big and small, and it will not be long before the fact' is impressed on the minds of those most vitally concerned that the officiate are awake to the position existing and are trying hard to eradicate the malignant growths. As things are at ; present, however, there is too much 6f the rich and poor law. •■'-. . Call for Action ; The nonentities- of the racing world are kept down and should one, owner, trainer, jockey or apprentice, make an error, he is not likely to 'be given any consideration. How often dp we see the big riders commit offences and get away with not a word of condemnation? And, yes, how often do we see a poor unfortunate apprentioe commit the same offence and, m the parlance of the game, "get the axe"? It would appear that the stipe and [Judicial committees have been vicious m their sentences given to kid»,- viewed m comparison with the actions m similar cases with well-known and experienced riders. : . The older riders stick to each other when called upstairs, and at Fellding, the other, day, the committee, had to severely caution a prominent rider for the manner m which he gave evidence m a case m which another leading jockey figured. The call is for action and what better Christmas box could be given to the' army of punters than an assurance that a definite effort is being made to eliminate the race-rigger, the interference king and the non-trier?