TROTTING ASSOCIATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 3869, 8 May 1928, Page 59

TROTTING ASSOCIATION.

MEETING OF THE BOARD. • ■A- meeting of the board of the Nev Zealand 1 rotting Association was held the Forbury Park Club Rooms on Frida, and was attended by Messrs R. A. Armstrong, Wellington (who was appointed zV- I l ' Dcn ton (Christchurch), G (Auckland) ’ and J - M - Samson Apologies for absence were received front Messrs J. H. Williams (president). H. W Kitchingham (vice-president). W. Hayward and J. B. Thomson. DEATH OF MR J. B. HARCOURT. „ D*?fore proceeding with the business the Chairman said that they would have noticed in the press that they had lost one ot the oldest sportsmen in New Zealand, Mr J. B. Harcourt, chairman of the Wellington Racing Club. Members of the board stood in silence as a mark of sympathy with the relatives of the deceased AUSTRALIAN AFFAIRS. -. 7 A communication was received from the X ictorian ’1 rotting Association notifying tha.t the following disqualications had been endorsed: —F. B. M’Farlane (owner-drive) and b. g Nimble Direct for two years foi not trying to win, by the Melbourne Trot ting Cluo. Automatic disqualications:Blk m Princess Mauritius, b g Huon Voyage, W. Anderson (driver), and blk g Periana for 12 months • for not trying to win, by the Melbourne Trotting Club.— Noted. The West Australian Trotting Association notified as follows. —Disqualifications re moved: —H. C. Moran and horse Canton; E. Gosper .and ’mare Lulu Ribbons;- ' Thomas and mare Alto Child ; J. Shaw an 1 horse Taraire, and automatically removing disqualifications of mares Princess Wilkes and Peggy Vonia.—Noted. F. G. HOLMES’S APPEAL. ; The decision, in full, of Messrs H. F. Niccll, D. J. Evans, and B. S. Irwin, appeal judges, in the matter of the appeal of Freeman Graham Holmes against his suspension by the New Zealand Trotting Association, was read by the secretary as follows We, the undersigned, being the appeal judges appointed under Rule 24 of th-3 New Zealand Rules of Trotting, sat at the conference room, 90 Armagh street, Christchurch, on Thursday, April 26, 1928. to hear and determine the appeal. Messrs Hayward and Denton (members of the association) appeared on behalf of the association, and Mr Simes (with the permission of the appeal judges) appeared for Holmes, who was also present. It appeared that the following letter had, on March 28 last, been forwarde 1 to Holmes by the association : —

I am instructed to ask you to attend a meeting of the Licensing Committee on Tuesday afternoon, April 3, at 3 o’clock, to show cause why your licenses for tne current season should not be cancelled, yo’i having committed three offences this season, as follows: — September, 1927.—Fined £2 at Geraldine Racing Club’s meeting for using a steellined whip; February, 1928.—Cautioned by New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club for careless driving; March, 1928. —Your horse was placed third and Author Jinks second on account of interference in the Timaru Trotting Cup.—(Signed) J. B. Norris, secretary. Holmes bad duly appeared before the association, and admitted that he had been fined as stated by the Geraldine Rao ing Club in September, 1927, and that he had been cautioned by the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club in Februa y of this year, but denied that he had been guilty of any offence in March in Timaru. It was admitted by the representatives of the association that the offence committed at Geraldine was a minor one, and that the caution by the Metropolitan Clue had been duly endorsed by the association, and that m connection with the Timaru case the Timaru Club had written he association that Holmes was not to blame for the incident. The association representatives also frankly admitted that ; n private life the conduct of the appellani was exemplary. It would appear that the action taken bv the association would not have been taken but for the incident at Timaru. If the association had disagreed with the finding of the limaru Club, it is obvious that action could have been taken at once and the matter sifted to the bottom Th > rules provide ample powers. Instead, the association confirmed the decision of the Timaru Club, and afterwards called upon Holmes to show cause why he should n"H be dealt with. The Timaru Club had acquitted Holmes, although, on account of an accidental interference, the positions of the two horses were reversed. If this decision was wrong, why was it confirmed? If the association thought it right—it admits this by confirming the decision —why was Holmes called upon at all? Under the rules there is power to the association to approve, vary, or reverse the decision of the stewards of clubs, and it may increase or lessen the penalties inflicted by clubs; and we think that the time for action by the association should be, in cases such as the one now under review, at the time when the matter comes before it for confirmation or otherwise. If this course is not followed it savours of punishing a person twice for the same offence, or laying the association open to a charge of inconsistency. For reasons given, we allow Holme’s appeal, and order that the costs of the appeal be paid by the association. VVe regret - that,, in our judgment, we have been unable on the evidence before us, to uphold the decision of the associa tion, fully recognising the excellent work that it is doing in the interests of the sport LICENSING COMMITTEE’S REPORT. Messrs W. H. Denton and W. Hayward, who constitute the Licensing Committee, reported as follows:— ** In view of the re cent decision of the appeal judges, the Licensing Committee has been placed in a very unsatisfactory position, therefore, it feels the responsibility of making recommendations to the board is too great Taking a line on the recent decision it appears to us that where breaches of the rules take place. • it apparently will be necessary for a decision to be arrived at before the club’s action is endorsed, and this means that all cases reported fro n time to time will have to be considered first by a committee or dealt with by

k° ar£ i. Dntil this point is final!? settled we think it u advsable to do nothing further in cases that are pending.” CHAIRMAN’S REMARKS. 8,1? e »h C ? al {? 1 j n u Said a PP eare d to him that theie had been some little confusion in the matter. Apparently the appeal judges had based their upholding of the appeal on the fact that Holmes had bem the terms as stated, to show cause why his liceusz for the coming season should not be cancelled him r h T + vlng had thr ®e convictions againet ihu' i J? &ce,n€d ra ther unfortunate that term? 6CDt tO I L Was urine^ ss ary for the letter to have been sent in this form, and :t ? ini that aomething would n? Hi -be done „ensure the position of the Licensing Committee in the future V* lte review of licenses. He • *i_- a f tcd 341 amendment to the rules in this connection, and would ask them to forward it to the suggestion book for consideration by the Trotting Conference In his opinion, and he thought it was the M? f r^ e ° ther members of the board, the Licensing Committee had been so much concerned with the specifi-' cases quoted nor particularly about Lhe ffiT? ip n 4 ca l lin S Holmes before it, g Committee called him on the general grounds that his record was unC lar d ri v ’ng was concerned. The committee had dealt with the matter on general grounds, and not on specific charges. He agreed that the appeal judges had acted quite i n accordance with the rules of trotting. etter before them, with the tS. j C k <J L arges enu merated. and they as a board had no complaint about the fudge’s finding. It was a technical point, an<f it was one which could not be ignored by the nth ges k Ti he u Licensing Committee, m cnU ha,n T d > hfld an onerous and difficult task. It was called on to review fr C ?m ie t’im Pr T lP z aJIy ’ also applications, V T f - rom all quarters of New Zealand, and it did its best to mete out justice to all. It had to deal not only with offences against the rules oF b u Ut i a - S ° w,th thc competency vers - The re.to .9 16 f l‘fferent temperaments of different riders and drivers, and said the Licensing Committee had to consider this factor, and how the excitement of a race might .affect them. He considered that the Licensing Commuttee should haVfe as free a rT ble tho judicial capacity Add to Rule 216—For the purposes of this nue the association shad appoint two of its members under sub-clause 2 of Rule K ii aC k- a l. a L,c « nsln g Committee, which shall, subject to the approval of the association. issue licenses under this rule. Buch .Licensing’ Committee shall be empowered to review from time to time all or any licenses so issued, and may for good and sufficient reason recommend to the association the suspension or cancellation of any lieen'O issued. The Chairman added that under the rules as they stood at present, the licensing Committee had no practical recognition except as a subcommittee of the Trotting Association. It was, however, ver-v important, from the point of view of the welr6i sport, that specific powers should be given to the Licensing Committee. Mr M‘Millan said he agreed with the remarks of the chairman. They all felt that the Licensing Commitee had their confidence as well as the confidence of the conference. Mr Samson held that they had powers under the rules to deal with offenders. They must back up their Licensing Committee, and he thought the amendment would do that in the future. Mr Denton referred to the difficulties which faced the Licensing Committe, and said that they had to issue new licenses on July 1. If they could not review past offences of license holders, it was going to put them in a very invidious position. He still thought, however, that tne committee had power to review these cases when it came to issue fresh licenses for the coming season. The Chairman agreed that the committee had powers under the rule providing for them to deal with business not provided for in the rules; but it was advisable that specific powers should be given the committee. The letters from the appeal judges and the Licensing Committee were received, and the chairman’s motion passed. M’LENNAN’S FINE. Lengthy evidence in regard to the fining of J. M'Lennan, driver of Herbelwyn at the recent Metropolitan meeting, for crossing on to Proud Ata was read. This evidence had been taken at the inquiry. M’Lennan had been fined £25. M'Lennan appealed against the fine and claimed that he had not received justice. He had not been able to get all his witnesses at the time the inquiry was held, and he now desired to call E. C. M'Dermott. It was decided to refer the matter back to the Metropolitan Club. COMMITTEE’S DECISION REVERSED The evidence in connection with the reversal of the positions between Needles and John Dee by the Judicial Committee of the Oamaru Racing Club (the meeting was held at Wingatui) was read. John Dee had been placed first and Needles second, it being held that the driver of Needles (J. Walsh) had flourished his whip when the horses were finishing up the straight. Walsh was also fined £lO. The association had referred this case back to the Oamaru Club, the association wanting to know if the club considered the, flourishing was intentional or wilful. . Mr Samson said that he was satisfied that Walsh was not telling the truth in his evidence. Mr Denton asked if the whip was a short one, as Walsh stated. Mr Samson said it was a long whip. The Chairman said it appeared from the evidence that Needles would have won in any case, but he considered that the charge against Walsh of flourishing his whip had been fully proved. Mr Samson moved —“ That the club’s decision in altering the placings of the two horses be reversed, on the ground that the evidence showed conclusively that Needles would have won. in any case, and that it would be a distinct injustice to the owner to deprive him of the stake under the circumstances, and that the penalty of the fine of £lO imposed on Walsh be altered to disqualification for the balance of the season.” Mr' M'Millan seconded the motion, which was carried.

the cyclists wil probably train at Herne Hill, the athletes at Stamford Bridge, and the swimmers at various chibs in London. There is no shortage of gymnasium facilities. The team will leave on July 16 for Amsterdam, where accommodation has been arranged an hour’s journey from the Stadium at a private hotel, which was formerly the residence of a member of the Prussian nobility. The Australians will have the hotel almost to themselves. Park-like grounds will afford every adjunct for developing physical condition in pleasant surroundings. Private char-a-bancs will convey the athletes and the swimmers to the Stadium, where they will practise, but Pearse will have to go* to Amsterdam to practise. In the canal, where the Olympic races will be rowed only two rowers will be allowed at the same time.