THE VALUE OF RACING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2541, 26 November 1902, Page 46

THE VALUE OF RACING.

During the pi ogress and at the conclusion of many of our metropolitan race meetings we are treated to sermons galore on the evils of gambling, and witen the country, as at prese-nt, is in the throes of a parliamentary election aspirants for parliamentary honours are asked — and promise — that all evils, existing and imaginary, will be swept out of our fair land into the sea or elsewhere. In the meantime rates and taxes are mounting higher and higher, but it will be all right in the future, and, at the promised rate of progress, in a hundred years or more, navvies will ride to work in landaus, clerk 3 will journey to their desks in motor cars, and merchants will have air-ships to float themselves to business. In a few hundred years everybody will have everything they want, and then "Won't the da3'a then seem lank and' long When all goes right and nothing wrong, And things will be extremely flat When there's nothing at all to grumble at. One thing that is said to be doomed is the totalisator, and reformers who have never inhaled the "poisoned atmosphere of a racecourse," and who could hardly tell one end of a horse from the other, tell us with their well-known parrot-like volubility that the country ia going to r -A and ruin through horse-racing and gamb.ing. They mover By chance look on the bright side of the question, but see only one side of the shield, and never a*k themselves or anybody else what good does horse-racing do. People say that racing improves the breed of horses, and stop at that. But racing has a beneficial effect in many other ways. For instance, the making of racing gear calls for ixpert.workmanship, and when a mnn can make a racing saddle he i« at the top of the tree at his trade. A horse's gear must be very strong, and at the J-ame time the -weight must be reduced to a minimum. Any ordinary saddler can make a cart saddle or a butcher's 28-pounder, but whem they can successfully cater -for the racehorse their earnings are higher than what is obtained by the rank and file of the trade. A blacksmith, in like manner, has to prove himself a thorough niastei of his trade before an up-to-date trainer will allow him to shoe his horses. In fact, everything in connection with a racehorse must be of *he very best — the best gear, the best shoeing, the make of the racing colours, riding breeches, and boots, clothing, brushes, the feed of the horse, ptc. ; and the cleverest veterinary surgeon is called wheff' the noble animal takes ill. So that racing calls into play an ambition which makes tradesmen excel in their work if they wish to cater for the racehorse, and the work created by racing directly and indirectly is almost without end. To give an idea of the commercial value of racing one has only to gain a slight idea of the number of thoroughbreds in the colony, and the value set upon them by their owners. Last year over 1667 hordes were raced at meetings where the totalizator was used, and these horse, started 11,514 times. It is almost impossible to buy a racehorse worthy of the name at less than £100, and as the prices of many would represent the thick end of a £1000, it would not be too high an estimate to set down £ZOC as the average cost of the 1667 horses which raced last season. That gives u<s £2,333,400 as the value of the hordes, and nc mention is made of the number of yearlings and other horses in training which did not sport eilk during the season. To start the horses 11,514 times would, at the very lowest estimate, cost £3 per start — that is, £1 each for nomination, acceptance, and riding fee. In some race 3, such as the New Zealand Cup, an owner has to disgorge £20 before his horse can see th# post, and if allowance is made for train far&s, etc., above £5 per 6tart would be a low estimate. That gives £57,570 as the amount owners had to pay last season for starting their horees. The amount of money paid away in stakes last season totalled £136,369, and £1,132,024 was put through the totalisators. A fair sum when it is considered that the money spent in racing may be eaid to be in circulation ia the strictest 6ense of the term. Blood stock to the value of £19,365 w.as disposed of under the hammer during the progress of last season, and if the amount which ohanged hands over private sales could he gleaned it would also total a respectable figure. In the Stud Book, issued in 1899, there are over 500 mares which are alive at present, and during the period which has elapsed probably an additional 200 at least have found their ■way to the etud. It is doubtful if £70,000 would buy them all, and that wouldnot be too high a. figure to place opposite the brood mares of the colony. There are a large number of stallions in the colony, but, leaving out the rough stuff, perhap3 50 could be picked out, and their average volue would not be extravagantly fixed at £500. That gives £25,000 as the amount invested in thoroughbred stallions. Imagine the amount of feed required to supply the wants of the thoroughbreds of New Zealand, and as only the very best of forage is given them the farmers munt deuve no small benefit from racing. It co-ts not less than £2 p^r month to *eed a hnrso \n training, and the horses that raxed lajt yew coasumtd »v*r

£40,000 worth of feed. A complete set of gear for a raoshorse cost! not less than £20, so that over £20,000 r* presents the value ef racing gear in use in tlio colony — a low estimate whea it is remembered that trotters, stallions, yearlings, and brood mares are left out of consideration. If the above figures require strengthening, BS9 trotters, who started 5939 times, can be thrown into the scale, and if their value is set down at hack price it makes a very respectable figure. The abova figures will furnish a rough idea of _the amount of money circulated and the TsJbo/ur employed by horse-racing, and yet, if some people cculd hay© their way, the sport would be wiped out of existence without the slightest consideration of the amount of capital involved or anything else, except a. desire to pander to thei..- own narrow-minded vanity in their endeavours to pese as reformers.