TALK OF THE DAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2730, 11 July 1906, Page 50

TALK OF THE DAY.

By Sentinel.

TOTALISATOR FRACTIONS

Some of our racing Shylocks insist on having their pound of flesh, or what might be more drastically termed their pinched penoe, and ifc is regrettable to note that at the annual meeting of ths New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club, held last week, a motion, was lost that it be a recommendation to the committee to pay totalieator dividends out to sixpenny fractions. Our clubs are quite within their rights in retaining fractions of a shilling when declaring the dividends at their meetings, but if they have a legs l right to do so it is beyond their moral right : particularly •is this the case when it is noted how 10s dividends are manipulated to pay pound dividends, the legalised 10 per cent, not infrequently being almost doubled before the public see the colour of their money. If a portion of the fractions were devoted to charity, there* would be something to advance in extenuation of thi3 much-to-be-condemned practice, but our racing chibs are strict believers that charity begins and ends with their own banking accounts and require a lot of wakening up to the fact that their actions are supplying a wrecking power for the totalisator, which 16 at once the backbone and body of our racing institutions. When a club^is slruggling for existence, the fact of its striving io husband its receipts up to the last groat is very commendable, and should it trespass a bit beyond whilst still keeping within its right*, a parsimonious policy is excusable, but when finances are strong and flourishing in common fairness the public should be given their full measure. The small clubs cannot bo blamed for following in the footsteps of their wealthier brethren, and consequently tho latter are doubly responsible for their actions m this respect. We have our racing laws, rule 3, and regulations, but the manner in which they are applied frequently leaves a good deal to be desired. What is required is that an Admiral Eous should | come along, and, by strengthening our method* of administration, correspondingly weaken the opponents, who are always on the alert for a peg on which they can hang their arguments in favour of the ! abolition of everything in the way of sport. | The New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting i Club is our premier and wealthiest body catciing for what our American friends term the lig'ht-haznes* horse, and it is interesting to note the charges made on public and owners by the club in their efforts to foster and further the interests !of the trotter. The club gave away £9890 i ia prize money this year, and the tax made on owners and public to distrioute I this sum amounted to something "ke £15 191. ThU amount is made up a<; follow^:— Nomination. £1666 17s 6d: acceptance. £1197 17s 6d; totaheator, £9386 12s 4d; gates. £1912 19s 9d; privileges, £550 : cards, £477 Is 3d ; and from this it will be seen that trotting is not the poor man's sport it is commonly designated. Against the above items there are the common o-qperscs usually identified -with the running of a big meetine. but the receipts over expenditure total £2180 3s 4d, and it is our 'wealthy clubs that should set the lead in the direction of the correct payment of dividends. The club made a profit of £960 18s 7d on the year's workin "• and of that amount £500 is to be added to a reserve found already £500 strong in orcW to provide for the ra:ny tW "which may never cor&e, but meanwhile the last penny is to be squeezed' out of tho=e who supply the sinews of war.

INCONSISTENT RUNNING. The disqualifications imposed by the South Canterbury Jockey Club in connection with its autumn meeting, and the fart that rl.oy were subsequently thrown out by the New Zealand Tiotting Association, has been creative of a good deal of discussion amongst the former oody, which hae taken umbrage owing to its rulings failing to find endorsement with the powers who sit in final judgment on such rnatterfl. Tho New Zealand Trotting Association sat la-t week, and the president (Mr P. Selig) ,pckc >at length on the subject. Mr feelig =aid "'that in cases of inooiwi-U'iit running he liad always held that that in itself clul not necessarily imply fraud, and there had to be clear evidence of that before the association could brand a 'man as a rogue." He further stated that, "judging by t.ie m&iincr in wliich some of the racinjr stewards had conducted and adjud>catcd upon trotting e\<>nts. it was time bOii.e ft tho clube appointed to their executive- men who knew something about trotting. It wa , evident that there existed a great deal of ignorance amongst some of the raring dubs concerning trotting ; some of the ca^-ps that had been before the association showed that clubs sometimes did not take the trouble to conduct trotting events properly, and showed an appalling ignorance of the lulos. If i .icing clubs wanted trotting e\«nc?, tlioy should appoint men v\ho knew the lules and weie competent, to cairy them into effect." Apart from the rmlita or wiongs of the Tjtnaru ea«e, and with all due respect to Mr Sehg's opinion that he was eeitain that there was not one-quaiter of the fraudulent practices in racing or trotting that some people seemed to think, there is no doubt that far too much transpires in connection with the running of trotting events that caFs for nothing but condemnation. At meeting after meeting horses with records of, say, 2min 30sec never trot within seconds of that gait, simply because they are nontriers, but in good time they win, and not infrequently go well inside their previous record. Then, again, a horse will win a race in 2min 30sec. but probably on *he following day will not show ?.min 50sec.

Apparently, it is only when a horse loses one day and wins the next — or, more closer still, when a horse loses a race and subsequently comes out again on the same day and wins, that an inconsistency occurs. Mr Selig lays it down that {here must be clear evidence of fraud before a charge of inconsistent running can be< substantiated : but whilst that may be necessary, it also makes <a very wide mesh through which malefactors can escape through the network of our racing laws. An expert in racing may be absolutely certain that a horse has displayed fraudulently inconsistent form, but he would in many cases have a hard task to prove the fraud so far as the betting part of the business was concerned. For instance, the betting public may be imbued with an idea that a. horse possesses a good winning chance in a race, and consequently elect it favourite with their money, but the owner may not be investing a copper. On the horse's next app_earanoe the public may be wavering in their support, but the owner has his money on, and consequently it is that the betting returns may read in favour of the horse although his form may be clearly inconsistent. Some require a palpable pull to convince them that a horse is a non-trier, but many horses can bo stopped without it being necessary for the rider to sit up in the saddle and reef like a sailor hauling on a sail full cf wind. One particularly glaring case came under the writer's notice this season, and the only thing advanced in favour of the jockey who stopped the horse was that he was not noticeably pulling at his mount, which possesses a very light mouth, and could be ridden with a thread. The writer is positive- of this, and it is not an isolated case. Trotting men have more excuses at their command than these identified with gallopers when they are on the carpet. They have so much gear to account for, shoeing, puncturing tyres, and the pockets of the public, that he must be a very dense man wlio cannot escape punishment, unless, of course, he rides or drives and shows that he is palpably pulling or breaking up his horse in order to prevent it winuing. Trotting, nevertheless, is a splendid sport, and should not be condemned because a bad egg or two is found in the basket. Racing stewavU sometimes merely tolerate trotting events on their programmes because they are money-makers, and whilst they are being decided is a good time to go- to lunch. The fact of these races being financial successes should be a double inducement for ;lubs to conduct tliem in a manner calculated to win general approval, and because a, club is occasionally shown the dark side of the shield is no reason for it to believe that it does not possess a more pleasing surface on the other. Consequently tho South Canterbury Club would show more backbone if it adhered to the trotting events, and probed by future management that the experience of the past has not been wasted.