THREE RACE DIVIDENDS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17610, 28 October 1931, Page 11

THREE RACE DIVIDENDS

' EXPERIMENT AT OAMARU A POPULAR INNOVATION The experiment of paying three dividends instead of two was tried hv (lie Oamaru Trotting Club at its meeting this week, and the experiment proved very popular. The payment of three dividends was limited to those races in which there were nine or more starters, and there were two races in (he programme, in which there were only eight' starters, so that 1 lie innovation applied to six races. At the club’s Labor Day meeting last year £22,470 passed through the totalisutor, while at Monday’s meeting the total was £10,201. In view ,of the depression a falling oil’ in the sum. handled by the machine was regarded as certain. The three dividends were paid out, in the proportion of 30, 30 and 20 per cent. These proportions wore fixed by the conference. “The system is good, but the percentage is wrong,” was the/ opinion expressed by some well-known sporting authorities. The . second horse under the 30-30-20 percentage is better for backers than under tho two dividend system, because it gets 30 per cent, of the money instead of 23 per cent.” There seemed to be a, consensus of opinion that instead of the 30-30-20 percentage, a better division would be (>5-20-13. Although the totalisator returns sbbwed a falling off of £O2OO compared with last year’s meeting, it is believed that tin' shrinkage would have been much larger but for the payment of a third dividend. In each ol: the two races in which only two dividends were paid the machine was down approximately £9OO compared with the corresponding races last; year.