NOTICE OF SCRATCHINGS

Taranaki Daily News, 30 April 1930, Page 4

NOTICE OF SCRATCHINGS

INNOVATION KEENLY OPPOSED.

THE TOTALISATOR IN ENGLAND.

(By Centaur —Special to News.) London, March 6.

In pursuance of a policy which is designed to popularise mechanical betting the Irish Turf Club has recently passed a rule calling for an overnight declaration of runners on the part of owners, or their nominees. Needles- to say, this step has occasioned a great deal of controversy in England, and many owners and trainers have been interviewed on the subject. T. Leader, H. Cottrill, Captain Hnw. Captain Boyd Rochfort. W.

Nightingall and Major Beatty are among those who have decried the innovation, and expressed their indignation that the idea should ever have occurred for the Jockey Club of England to follow the Irish body. In Uns 1 agree. We have had enough of turf reforms for the time being. This totalisator business is getting a bit overdone. There is no need for me to say more, if I may be allowed to conclude with a few words written by Edgar Wallace (who, besides being a writer of fame, is also the owner of racehorses) in a London newspaper. Here are his views in brief: “I might say that I always speculate upo the wisdom of the Irish Club in making any experiments at all. Irish racing is not in a floujishirig State, and anything that tends ;to iinr crease the difficulty of trainers does not seem to me to be an especially srood

move, even though the idea in itself may be an excellent one. All these great ideas, which are fired on to the turf periodically, have a tremendous lot to be said in their favour. There is something to be said even for the totalisator. In fact, quite a lot, though heaven forbid that I should say. it,” • : . Wallace deals at length with the various arguments’, against overnight declarations, and one can n»; only.endorse them all, but add others. Be that as it may, the rule is now being enforced in Ireland, much to the satisfactory' of people who pick their winners overnight. The totalisator’s progress is sustained in England; at least most racing executives have either installed a .machine, or are on the point of doing so. In the way of actual figures, .however,: it is clear that, up to the present, the public has not gone out of its way to forsake

the bookmakers and declare “all out” for the machine. Only on very rare occasions has £lO,OOO gone into the win and place pools on one afternoon. There . will be no totalisator at Liverpool for the Grand National; but an amateurish attempt at pari-mutuel betting is outlined for Lincoln. This latter meeting has long been in danger of financial stagnation, and one imagines that the totalisator is expected to be the saviru*> grace; I doubt it.