TALK OF THE DAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3040, 19 June 1912, Page 54

TALK OF THE DAY.

By BrntTiHtt.

THE TOTALISATOR AND THE THOROUGHBRED. It has been claimed' in Australia by those anyone to depreciate the totalisator that tbaT installation in the Commonwealth of regulators of the odds would Sda death-blow to toe breeding of the tijoroughbrede in Australia, the same as it has been alleged to have done m this country. It is turned by one of two onto, that because studs « tio Svl»a Pa k Stud, the Wellington Park Stud, Middle lark Stud, New Zealand Stud, arid the £ lderslie Stud failed to be a continuous fnd everlasting success, that the fcas been the instrument which caused their Annihilation. The Middle Park Stud became defunct before the real power of the totalisator was asserted in this country: but in any case its paddock area was fairly small, and experience of the long past goes to show that grazing land, if not treated with great care, is apt, and, in fact, invariably becomes horse-sick.and comparatively valueless. If the truth could be traced, the breaking up of most studs is found in-the fact that the percentage of winners is small in comparison to what they produced when they won the puWio attefafion, and the reason at times is fairly obvious, although not apparent to tJi© casual observer. Another important factor tint contributes to the falling away of a stud is that all studmasters cannot always grace their stud with the stock of a Mjieket or a St. Simon, and as a consequenoo the patronage shifts. Such-like horses may materially contribute to building up a stud's reputation, but when they go are generally impossible, or, at least, very diffiouit to replace. Another thing contributing to a stud's decline consists in the faot that where success is originally achieved!, and perhaps continued for a few years, there is always a tendency to overload the paddocks with mares. This is particularly the case when a stud is carried on merely as a commercial proposition. Let anyone, who chooses to do so get the" stud books, and see if the matrons end sires that made the names of some of the most successful studs in Australasia ■were not of an infinitely better class than .what was identified with the closing of their gates. The records of racing in both Sngland and Australasia go to show that studs rise and fall like the tide. The invincible stud and stable of one day cannot supply a winner at a later period. Anyone with a fairly lengthy racing experience has only to think back, as it Ware, and recall how well-known colours of only a few years back are now unknown on the turf. So it is with studs. They come and go, but because some of of them go there is not the slightest grounds for assuming that the thoroughbred is going to completely vanish. Like a game of chess, the figures are set up again on the. board, although perhaps manipulated by different hands and brains. As- far-' as the totalisator is concerned, ijh&ee .are few or no grounds for claiming that it has or will kill off the breeding industry in the Dominion or Australia. As a matter of fact, we have in recent years far more, and an increasing number of, horses in training, and a Stud Book * that has increased with each issue, whilst fcc-day New Zealand is perhaps richer in thoroughbred stallions than at any time m its history, although we have recently <k>st Charlemagne 11, Downshire, Varco, and Vasco. We may look back to Musket and Traducer, and regret that they did not live forever; but they died, and their lives have been neglected and practically lost; but still % racing and breeding thrives and flourishes in thk country despite all that can be said to the contrary. In Vol. % of the New Zealand Stud Book, issued in 1839, there are about 1000 brood marcs, whose records date from the earliest turf liistory In the country up to the period Ijamed above. In going over the volume it tyill bo found that about 50 per cent, of them were defunct at the time of its issue, whilst others were breeding their Inst contribution to the equine population. Considering that the records of Vcl. I covered 11 early half a century, the percentage of noh-produeers, dead mares, etc., is perhaps Jby no means overstated. That would leave Us with approximately less than SCO brood invfcres, and by wav of comparison it may %& etatea that over or about 1000 producing brood mares figure m Vol. V, which was issued quite recently. The tyne and set*>ut of the New Zealand Stud Books have been oractieally the same m each issue, and barry about the same average of mares per pa/ge. In Vol. T it requires 224- pages to S*eot»rd the brood mares, whilst in Vol. II Ijnly 186 pages are required, because it is unnecessary to reproduce a list of the defunct matrons In Vol. ITT there, is an increase- to 210 pages. Vol. IV falls to 195, ftOd; in VoL V (ju&t issued) the pa gee grow to 248. and this in the face of the fact that our exportation of mares has been far greater than our importations. It will be fesn uttm our Stud Book has grown con-

siderably, as there is an increase of over 60 pages between the issue of Vote. II and V, and approximately the increase in brood mares has been about double the number we bad 10 years ago. On the face -ef it it seem* fatuous to state that racing and breeding cannot thrive under the totalisaior, which charges a heavy tax on betting and returns the bulk of the profits to the increase of stakes.* The totalisator is a great thing, and a great benefit to racing, and after noticing the way they bet in Australia the writer is convinced that the big events in Melbourne and Sydney would be the richest in the world if the percentages went to the increase of stakes and not into private pockets. Australia starts with wellequipped racecourses (whereas New Zealand has some of the finest courses in the world that have been won from a wilderness), and hence stakes would at one? start, to increase, as the cost of installing totalizators would be a mere bagatelle to UK profits they return. For the -big betting owner the market supplied by the bookmaker gives an ante-post market and a broader 'field to exploit, and for that reason it is best that the legitimate bookmaker and totalisator should work in conjunction. Under n roper, control the combined means of betting would have- had little- fault to be found with it, but the licensing of bookmakers never received a fair test in Now Zealand, and althonsh they are now legally banished or non-existent they are in point of faot as great a power in the land as ever. New Zealand has the totalisator, and a strong fielders' market for s p. work or ante-post business; our raciner has flourished, but is still open to a good deal of improvement : stakes have increased by leaps and bounds, the appointments on our racecourses arc collectively better than any country in the world, and yet some would have u* believe that the totalisator is a bad tihinjr for the thoroughbred industry. On the contrary, the totalisator is the incubator of racing, and for improving its finanoiail status at least ooovipies a- simHar plane to that of the mechaJiioal ohickon-breeder that turns out the chicks in shoals whilst the old broody hen cackles herself to de»th (railing the odds) in bringing- out the few that can shelter under her wings. OPEBATIONS FOR ROARING. In the Veterinary Journal of a recent issue' Professor Hobday issues a very favourable report " upon the permanent value of the rearing operation as evidenced by the present condition of 100 horses which had been satisfactorily operated upon for roaring from 18 months to two and a-half years ago." This is especially valuable (says the London Sportsman) inasmuch as the chief argument against the operation when it waa first introduced, was that the result, if beneficial, would not be permanent. Most of the horses operated on were hunters or carriage horses, but'in the list given there are three racehorses who have since won races. It is not suggested that the operation is always completely successful, and this, may be best shown by quoting the words cif an owner of one of the horses: "The horse was all the better for it, and.has been regularly hunted since, and breathes without the distressing symptoms he .previously suffered from, but he still makes a noise. . . '. My experience has been that about 60 per cent, of the horses' you have had for treatment have been a. complete success, and that many others, like my own, have derived much benefit from it." The particulars of all the 100 horses are tabulated thus: —'No. 10—date of operation, February 15, 1909—class of horse, hunter; age, 6; description before operation, bad rearer; report in January, 1911, excellent; present report, excellent." Notes are also given further explaining the various cases, and tliere can be really no doubt whatever that this ventricle stripping operation has proved a great boon to horse owners, one of whom writes:—"The hunter mare, Maid of the Mist, has since won the Ist Life Guards Regimental Steeplechase this year at Hawthorn Hill, and does not make the slightest noise—in' fact, she has changed hands twice since the operation, and on each occasion been passed by different veterinary surgeons without the slight est comment on her wind. Before the operation «he was a distinct 1 roarer,' and had been twice stopped for her wind by different veterinary surgeons, once being returned from TattersalTs for unsoundness." It has never been claimed by Professor Hobday or Mr John Coleman, with whom he has been associated in these oases, that the operation is one which either of themi originated. On tho contrary, Professor Hobday expressly state® that the ventricle stripping operation was demonstrated to him by Professor Williams, of Cornell University, U.S.A.