BETTING FEES. .

Otago Witness, Issue 2809, 15 January 1908, Page 54

BETTING FEES. .

' The . Hon-. Dr- Fjindlay . stated in '-' the course 'of . an intervie-wr-to, which he submitted lasb 'week that 'it was.-unr.easonable for -"small dubs te^ charge "bookmakers the maximum fee for the privilege of betting at their meetings '-'when .the metropolitan clubs are content to -charge- -the^, same fee, and in addition admit 'clerks ■ free. Thfe may appear 'to be quite correct -from a; theoretical point of view,' but experience has proved tba.t" it 4s absolutely wrong 'in practice when it is applied to the clubs which just struggle along and giye prizemoney amounting'to little' or nothing above the minimum allowed under the Rules of Racing. - When the bookmakers, prior to the passing- of the Gaminsr Amendment Act t

possessed the right to be present at meetings held on public reserves^ they itearl; sent several of the smaller clubs out oi business -altogether. This was accomplished by legitimate methods, because they outbid the totalisator for the patronage of bettors, and this will -generally prove to Tie th« case when, the fields' and- stakes are small ' Owners with an ' eye to the main chance anc owners who like the sport but endeavour tc make it profitable when a reasonable 1 chance of doing so occurs, prefer- to take s 1 set price from a fielder, rather than -flu ** price -wlich, the- -public make for thorn on the totalisator. If the public- obtain . as * inkling that the owner is backing his Tiorse 9 they frequently concert" a Tunner with * 10 to 1 chance o£ winning into an even- • money bet. There may- oe, oiher horses in the race which, by every f ule-- and guidt of iihe "spoTrt should; be at shorter prices than, the ahorse to which the public have taken what is perhaps a fcolish fancy, and conseqtently send it outsat. fa.."faJse" price r - not in. keeping 'with its legitimate chance I of "success. Tiie two great objections tc .' *he- totaJisator lie in the fact that "it eende 5 horses out at . false prices, and,- further, r charges- the bettmg pubHc a' xidiculous fee y fer the privilege -ot betting. It does uoi t necessarily follow that a hdrse must ;wrn 3 because he is a^hot favourite., , There is a . . vast difference between a horse being .made 5 favourite vby. > weight of merit „ and being j made- favourite , 3 by- weight, of money,^ ..bui i the public seldom - discriminate between ' ,-theset v 'two Tery > important .factors in, a . horse's: chance, of .It is :the I favouradasm created. v by weight lof money t which: makes the ."'.false jsrieesj. -on the ;,- macirine. When .a horse, js" sent out -an ; eveai-mane^ johoaoer ihe' shouH -" either- win I or "be very oloße . At Hhd finish. ' - Qdds-on . chances- s&oitld be almost certainties, 'and LJL J the-dQWn&il', of a-- solid : favourite never . achieved- except 'by the cropping •up" of some -unknown 1 quantity or some- of . ' "tmforseen. happenings which' go to- make . . np 'the glorious jincertaintv of" the ' turf. . " It 'will not be hard to follow, f£en, -that ownors whose- ~ha!?so3 are_ quoted on the [ market .at a, satisfactory price are au*pported . Tiy the eteble- because the. price on -offer f is proportionate' , to its chance- of- success. [• ,W'hexi: fields "are small,, as at the minor I "ooimtay ' meeiaog^, and -not onjy small ;- nuarerieally, but also,/ when the -winning . chances- are restricted to- two -or three, it is only' commonsense to find an "owner- taking f-. cv.en a fairly short price ' from .the bookirialcer, laee^tiserlie then" Knows "his position. , The ownersr ~wht> have the"keV'of -the situa7 -tion, back" their "horses at a set nrice, which . immediately shortens. -The public decline V to* back others' which it is~.reco«nised haye little or no cßarice,- consequently if there . is. no.- inonejr Sat. -the . outsiders „ there must i_-be -A short- price on. offer for the; favourites, - and) betting- as a result languishes.'. Here the totalisator must --- suffer, -and in a limited market" comes out second •to "the bookmaker. . ' Some three- seasons - ago' this fact was most , pronounced <at such meetings as , Lawrence, Tapanui, and the. Lake County.. At these places the bulk of tne , netting was, absorbed Tjy the fielders before ' the -'- horcßS' ~ fefir . tne," padlock-/ • arid" the totalizator to'-taiSke the residue of what , money, ."was-' in. on-.-Sie course When, therefore, jthere is a small ' amount; ' of money on ai coursei;he charges to bookniakersVßhouia nealfy -be .MgH;. i Decause- they outbid tne totalfsator, bitt at such places ac Bicearton, -where_ there is • plenty of 'money andVlozge^ -fields, Hthe presence of 'the is 1 not-such 1 ». strong jf actor, iiu-fhe 1 betting; market as is the, case at email meetings. It is a fact that Lawrence, Lake County, and Tapanui were on' the verge of going out ol business. The totalisator " permits attached" to.- r the Lake County and Tapanur meeting* were,^ it is understood,. •at ,bne t time almost on the point of being- pur- ! chased by the Karbury Park Club^ and'^ the ' Lawrence meeting was kept" alive, and \- indeed tne-otners, -by liberal' subscriptions' i or truarantees from the sportsmen identified I with them- These meetings furnished proof I' positive ~thaiT they could not live if x the^ ' totalieator had tp compete with the' book-'.-maTcer,. Amd^ on," -the other hand, the book.rr.akers. more or 'less' under the -rose, have ' j always; been in, active «omp*tition with the ; totalisators in. work at - Rioearton, where 1 progress has 1 marched on from meeting to- ' ' meeting. The- logio" of tihe case is, then, f thaffeeg at'small meetings should be hiarh; as witness the £30- per" day charged .by the ■ Tuapeka County Jockey Olub* where " the . j totalisalar turnover wa^' '£1919 last season, ' and small' at -the. principal meetings, as wft- ; ness: the £10*' per - day f to be' charged- at the O.J.C. for their midsummer meetihjr. • ! where the- totalisator. tnrnover was £12,625 \ \ last- season. The fees .mentioned . are ap;pa"rentiy abaurd^in' their ' proportion's, out •'' the Tuapeka . Club has past, experience to . baokr it- up' in its charges, an 3is further ' strengthened in ilfe action. by the fact that J' two 1 Bookmakers- intend paying tEe £30 per I day. "The, King can do no wrong," but here- Br Findlay. the kirisr ' of " the- situation, has propounded a theory which ex- - nerience haa Tiroved to bo absolutely wrong i inpract&e. Will some^ sporting Moses rise j ur> and' smash the stones on .which the j Gaming Act is engraved, and let our lawmakers start again -on a new" set? -'