TOTALISATOR GROWTH

Taranaki Daily News, 29 January 1931, Page 10

TOTALISATOR GROWTH

THE SITUATION M ENGLANDS, (By to News.) London, Dea. IL Kot long ago the chairman of the Racecourse Betting Control Board, which Is the body responsible for the.conduct of the totalisator in England, made an informative speech regarding the progress of machine betting. It was on the whole an optimistic oration,„ not quite justified by events to date, because there are still a large number of people who steadfastly believe that the totalisator will never be a, Success- in' England,': and wjio, moreover, have some definite evidence on their side. Sir dement Hindley drew, attention to the fact that the machine will have handled somewhere in the region of £4,000,000 by the end of the year, and argued that when the totalisator is erected at the more important meetings' such as Ascot and Goodwood the annual receipts will be much greater. Now as the, “commission” accruing to the controllers of the machine is 6 per cent., during the flat racing season and. 10 per cent, during the National Hunt season and l the board has to pay interest on a borrowed capital of nearly a million pounds, it is quite easy to calculate that the machine cannot yet be even paying its ,way. In addition to interest on capital there are, of course, vast expenses for printing, wages and establishment upkeep. My own opinion -a that .it requires an annual turnover' of £10,000,000 in order to keep level with expenses as they accrue. What about any reduction of the capital debt! Most days during the present.jumping. season I have been present to witness the trifling amount of speculation done via the totalisator, and I sometimes wonder how the controllers contrive io pay daily expenses. Were it not for some rather lively wagering on the daily double I am sure they would be' unable to do so. There is a lot of talk about alterations in the Betting Act so that the totalisator can reap benefits of which it is nowdeprived, owing to the legalities concerning wagering. But we all know Mr.' Philip Snowden's views about the subject of betting, and I think we can content ourselves with the fact that he at least is not going to concern himself. over the failure or success of the totalisator. When he took office last year he promptly quashed the bets tax- and ■■ has since made it clear that his interest in racing and th© totalisator is absolute- 1 ly nil. A reform which the advocates of the totalisator want to bring about is. the overniglft declaration of runners, but; in this matter they are meeting with considerable opposition from owners ana trainers, who know more about the subject than do any officials of the control board. It is a matter upon which one could write at great length, but to be brief, I will say at once that I am all : against overnight declarations. I am, o. | course, a punter at heart, but anxious I though I am to back winners I do not want to see owners and trainers driven to distraction in order to cater for too demands of a betting public. There is I no doubt the totalisator is revolution- . jsing hut it must not j

I lowed to kill the sport. It is fighting a, bard fight, and even now its fate is pa the balance.