TROTTING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22136, 14 December 1933, Page 7

TROTTING

Bv Sentinel.

Indianapolis, Black Jester, Biddy Parrish, and Wilma Dillon will comprise W. J. Tomkinson’s team for Auckland. Gumdigger, who is owned by Mr G. A. Williams, of Auckland, but was held on

lease by C. S. Donald until recently, has returned to Auckland, and has joined R. D. Kennerley’s team. Gumdigger has been nominated for some of the slower class races at the Auckland meeting. So poor have been the attendances at trotting meetings recently in Victoria that rumours were current that the meeting on November 27 was to be the swan song of tbe sport. Captain G. J. C., Dyett, secretary of the V.T. and R.A., however, stated that, despite the fact that the association was losing in the vicinity of £3OO a meeting, it was intended to, persevere with trotting, as this was the farmers' Sport, and it was certain that when better times came trotting would regain its former prestige. The big race of the year in Western Australia is the Trotting Cup, of £1750. The ultimate prize to the winner is decided on a percentage basis, and is always a substantial one. No S'ate in the Commonwealth shows such enthusiasm for the light-harness sport as Western Australia, and there is no better exhibition of trotting in the world (excepting world speed) than is to be seen at the Christmas carnival, held under electric light, on a splendidly appointed track. i The committee of the Timaru Trotting Club has decided to make representations to the Trotting Conference for the proportion of dividends on the place totalisator to be altered to provide for the apportionment of 50 per cent, to' the winner and 25 per cent, each to second and third. In proposing this alteration, Mr H. E. Wilcox said the main objection to place betting was the fact that the winner received the same as the other two. He contended that the win machine should stand, holding that owners were receiving a better return from it than under the old system.

The position of private trotting 1 trainer for Mr Wilfred Johnstone,,of Tamahere,. has been taken by W. Hughes, who has lately been training on his own account at Feilding. Hughes has been very successful both as a trainer and reinsman. At one time he trained a large string for Mr R. Vautier, of Ashhurst, and later he had charge of Mr J. A. Mitchell’s horses at Longburn. His greatest successes were secured with the fine pacer Padlock, and he also registered many wins with Loch Moigh, Derby Lynn, King's Guard, Gang Awa’, Rangitero, Caballero, and Tamahere. While training at Feilding, Hughes had several wins with the brilliant sprinter Brent Zolock, who is now trained at Addington by J. J. Kennerley. Hughes will have a very useful team (says “Abaydos ’’) under his charge at Tamahere, for, besides the wellperformed Enawah, First Flight, Te Ma-, hanga, Eleawah, and Kohewah, there are a number of highly-bred and promising young pacers and trotters. Trotting in this State (says an Adelaide writer) has had a bad time for years, but it appears as if the sport has at last turned the corner. The longpromised Bill to allow betting by bookmakers has been passed by both Houses of Parliament after a commission had inquired into the position. Most of the recommendations of the commission were embodied in the Bill, and’ one innovation which so far no other State has had the courage to make law, viz., the legalisation of starting price betting. So far as trotting is concerned, bookmakers will be allowed to operate, but the totalisator will not. This distinction is difficult to comprehend, as South Australia has been a strong supporter of machine betting for many years, and in any case, why single out the light-harness sport for this penalty? Trotting men are very thankful, however, that they have been allowed any betting facilities at all, as the sport has been kept alive by a few enthusiasts, who could not possibly gain any profit from their devotion to the Ishmael of South Australian horse Sports. Betting was the fillip the sport needed, and definite progress can now be made,; and it should not be long before interstate owners and trainers take a keen personal interest in South Australian trotting meetings. , “I make a criminal charge against the Tasmanian Trotting Association of having used funds which do not belong to it for purposes other than those for which they were intended,” said Mr G. Mahoney, in Parliament recently, when he moved that a select committee should be appointed to inquire into horse racing and betting in Tasmania, Mr Mahoney made a series of charges in connection with trotting control, and the debate was adjourned so that representations in support of Mr Mahoney’s statement could be made to the Government by outside bodies. The first of these will be a deputation from the southern Owners and Breeders’ Association,. which will .wait on the Attorney-general (Mr Baker). There was a demand for an inquiry throughout the whole of Southern Tasmania, Mr Mahoney said. The control of trotting had been seized by the clubs, and these were in a most serious financial predicament. The. Commissioner of Police (Colonel Lord) had recommended that an inquiry should be held. A firm of auditors had made grave allegations against the Tasmanian Trotting Association, and reported that it had used the Provident Fund for general purposes. If the committee found that the allegations were sustained, totalisator licenses should be refused, he continued. The Owners' Association was behind the move for an inquiry, and unless it were held, the trotting industry would suffer a breakdown. Parliament had directed that portion of the profits should be devoted to stakes, but this had not been done. Mr Dwyer-Gray asserted that serious statements had been made to him about the disappearance of funds and the misuse of moneys. The proposed inquiry should result in the clearing up of scandals and cleaner racing. Control of the sport had been unsatisfactory for some time, and the inquiry was badly needed. , At last week’s meeting of the New Zealand Trotting Association members of the board refused to entertain an application for a driver’s license by an owner who was well past the age when the best driving exhibitions may be expected. Race-driving is a profession that requires the steadiest of nerves, good eyesight, and great judgment, and though there, are exceptional instances (says the Press) of men more than 60 years of age possessing the nerve of a youngster, race-driving generally is a young man’s game. On previous occasions tlie Licens. ing Committee has had to exercise a good deal of diplomacy when impressing upon elderly applicants for driving licenses the advisability of leaving this part of the light harness sport to those best qualified to perform it, and while the refusal hag usually been taken with good grace, at times some resentment has been shown. The board is to be applauded for its action at last week’s meeting, "and it seems that some move might be made in the encouragement of young drivers. In the galloping sport a boy first becomes an apprentice, and when his riding days are over he may become a trainer. In trotting, unless a young man has a father who trains horses, he does not usually get a chance to show his ability in a race until he first becomes a trainer and has a team of horses under his care. C. S. Donald made C. King a splendid horseman by giving him plenty of chances to drive the stable’s horses in races, and he often showed a commendable spirit of unselfishness by giving King the drive behind the first string when he had more than one horse engaged. The Holmes brothers owe their present positions to the tuition given them by their father, the same applies to Andrew and James Bryce, jun., and to the Kennerley brothers. In the future some club may see the wisdom of encouraging young drivers by setting aside special races for them.