THE CONTROL OF SPORT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 54

THE CONTROL OF SPORT.

I On© g«te tired of continually hutting one's head against a wall, but It i? only by continuously butting that the object for butting is achieved. At various times the writer has drawn more or less pointed ! attention to the manner in which some of j our race meetings are controlled. It is not because the writer is desirous of stirring up muddy waters or because the turf is in a particularly bad. way that the feults of our race meetings are more dwelt upon than their merits, but because a strong necessity existe for the holding up of a staying hand, if our premier sport i-s to be prevented from becoming stagnant in the nostrils of the public. There is no place in the world where the racing authorities have> a stronger conta-olling: grasp on the turf than what existe here, but there is nowhere elee in the world where the opportunity for making pure sport ie so lamentably neglected. Our clubs strive too much for their individual superiority to bother about what happens at other meetings. Clubs are jealous of each other's progress, and the result is that there is abeolutely no continuity in the control of our racing. Nearly every case that our racing authorities have to deal with is absolutely forced upon them by a series of protests and appeals, and the judges who sit upon them are officials of clubs where the control of the sport is undoubtedly open to quiastion. It is the lack of continuity of control that is responsible for the majority of the evils which exist on our turf to-day, smd the faults existing through that lack are made doubly strong by the supineness and incapability of some racing stewards. It is this slack control of the sport that gives courage to the evily-disposed to continue in their evil ways, and what is overlooked at one meeting give 3 them coarage to repeat at the next meeting. And so it goes on and gathers strength. "With the advent of the new year it is to be hoped that some of our clubs will also gather strength in & desire to control the sport, and unless they <io so there is more . reason for their extermination thaji their existence. At every meeting at which the writer has recently attended, and at others where only hearsay knowledge has been gained, much has transpired which is open to severe — and very severe — criticisnl ; but on tli is oecs6ion there is a d-esire to spavo i details. It must, however, be said that ' unless the sport is more capably and more ! conscientiously controlled the antagonism against raeinsr will grow, and one day perhaps our turf authorities will have the task of sweeping away a mountain of evjl j where formerly a molehill existed. It is to be hope<l that the more lenient task will i bs undertaken. j