COUNTRY RACING.

Thames Star, Volume LVII, Issue 15885, 25 July 1923, Page 4

COUNTRY RACING.

MR BID WELL’S REMARKS CRITICISED. (Press Association.) DARGAVILLE, July 25. At last night’s meeting of the Dargaville Racing Club Mr F. J. Dargaville, the chairman of the Auckland Provincial one-day clubs, which recently ran a successful pooling scheme, and raced on the metropolitan courses, took strong exception to the remarks recently made by Mr 0. Bidwell in connection with the country clubs racing on Metropolitan courses. He especially resented 'the remarks “that members of these clubs must be poor sports when they had to race on Metropolitan courses to keep their clubs going.”

Mr Dargaville pointed out that the scheme had been approved by the big. clubs in the district, the Minister of Internal Affairs, and the Racing Conference, and had been the means of keeping several of the elu'bs from closing down. Mr Bidwell was mistaken when he said the members of the country clubs mentioned had not assisted personally, as he knew that in nearly all the clubs the members had assisted financially. The Dargaville Club, in particular, had many of such members who had stood behind it financially when they were up against it.