CHRISTMAS RACES.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 December 1923, Page 4

CHRISTMAS RACES.

LARGE CROWD BETS FREELY. “TOTE” RETURNS SHOW INCREASE. RECORD NUMBER OF MOTOR CARS. A record crowd, good racing, and a few tempting dividends from the totalizator, combined yesterday to make the opening day of the Taranaki Jockey Club’s Christinas meeting one of the most enjoyable in the history of the club. The record attendance was assisted by the beautiful weather. As if to atone for the downpours of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day the fickle gods of the rain clouds stayed their hands yesterday and gave New Plymouth a day of glorious summer sunshine and at the same time tempered the heat with a gentle breeze.

The crowd came from far and near. The race trains alone from Hawera brought over 1300 devotees of the sport of kings, while the ’buses from Waitara and beyond and from down the coast had full loads. The more affluent came in private and hired motor cars and of these there was such a number that about 100 had to be parked in the streets in addition to those in the course enclosure. It is estimated that there were at least 500 cars of all sizes and makes and models at the racecourse, and this number did not include more plying for hire. The traffic itself at the course was a record, but well made arrangements and efficient supervision resulted in it being handled remarkably well and free from accident.

The racing was as interesting as it was varied, and even the non-investor on the totalisator would have had an enjoyable day yesterday. The eight races on the card brought out ir most cases large fields, which included many well known Taranaki horses. The favourites on the totalisator justified the confidence of their supporters in nearly ah the events except twice, when “dark” horses claimed the judge’s eye and handsomely rewarded those “in the know.” The big race, the Christmas Handicap, of a mile and a quarter, went to the Hawera owned Kareao, who started a hot favourite from Sunny Jim and came home in front of Eerie amidst the plaudits of his hundreds of admirers. In the totalizator the clerks were kept busy from the opening of the windows to closing down time. Yesterday, with a total of £29,959. they handled £6385 more than they did on the first day last year, when the total was £23,574.