HANDICAPS SYSTEM WILL BE CONTINUED.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19117, 9 July 1930, Page 9

HANDICAPS SYSTEM WILL BE CONTINUED.

TROTTING DELEGATES ARRIVE AT DECISION. (Special to the “Star.”) WELLINGTON, July 9. The present system of handicapping was reviewed at the Trotting Conference to-day. The chairman of the conference (Mr J. Rowe), in his address, said that the great question which occupied the minds of those connected with the sport of trotting was handicapping. They had passed through twelve months of a system which had not been a system but a nightmare to many, especially to himself. Much discussion had taken place and opinions and suggestions had been offered from all quarters. One he had read, from a well-known Christchurch trainer, might suit the South Island, with its abundance of hc-rses, but it would be a different proposition in those districts where there was only a limited number. In his opinion class racing at the present time, under a compulsory system, would mean ruination to the small clubs. It was possible that the trainer advocated that system because it would suit the present team of horses under his control, and in a year or two he would be found ad\*ocating something new, and so go on, endeavouring to arrange a system that would fit in with his own requirements. While Christchurch might be ready for class racing —and he had his doubt—the Dominion as a whole was certainly not. The present system of handicapping had been on trial for twelve months and no one could say that that it had been a success. If this system was to continue, the penalty must be a fixed one and not left to the discretion of any handicapper to put the big man back twelve yards and the small twenty-four or thirty-six yards. It must be made into a system that would be absolutely free from any chance of favouritism. The intermediate distances must also be arranged for and it must not be left to the handicapper to suppose a horse could do a mile and a quarter at a faster gait than he won over a mile and a half, or vice versa. It must be a system where all owners would be on the same level. Resolution Passed. It was decided, practically without discussion, that the handicapping system in force in the past season be con tinued for another year. A proposal to license handicappers was lost on a division. A proposal that the association make regulations for handicapping imported horses was also lost. STIPENDIARY STEWARDS. (Special to the “Star.”) WELLINGTON, July 9. The Trotting Conference will require to make a new appointment of a stipendiary steward as it is understood that Mr R. T. Reid, one of the North Island officials, has resigned.