AGUA CALIENTE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18758, 15 July 1935, Page 12

AGUA CALIENTE

GAMBLING CENTRE RACING NOT IMPRESSIVE "‘Those who are continually bewailing the amount of gambling that goes on through the 1 otalisators on New Zealand racecourses have really littlo to complain aboul. 1 am not suggesting that hotting is either right or wrong, but 1 was astounded at what T saw at Agua Calieute.” said a New Zealander who arrived at Auckland from San Francisco on Friday. 'T went down to have a look at th<racecourse made famous to New Zealanders and Australians through the deeds of Phar Lap. but I must say I was disappointed in the course, which could not lie compared with the best hi Nc.w Zealand/ There is .almost a total absence of trees, and the whole place is dry, and not at all pleasing to the eye. ■‘The people who go to Calieute go there to gamble. Not only have they the choice of betting on what we would call the totalisator. but they can place their wagers with the bookmakers. One would think these offered sufficient channels to lose money, hut. in addition, on the grandstand, card games are played, and the "spinning Jenny’ is manipulated openly. Whether this is on behalf of the club. I cannot sav, but- I think it must he. “At the meeting I attended tho stake money was very poor. The programme of 11 races did not start till 2 p.m., and races were run at 25-minute intervals. The biggest stake was 500 dollars. The horses are placed in stalls at the barrier, but I do not think this method of starting is any better" than our own. The horses can back out of their stalls just as they can from the barriers we use. and one race I saw took nearly 20 minutes to start.”