RACING IN AUSTRALIA AFFECTED BY DEPRESSION
Reduction Of Prize Money Is Predicted For Victorian Clubs.
That Australian racing is passing through a difficult period is obvious from recent observations made by the chairman of the Victoria Racing Club, Mr L. K. S. Mackinnon. In forecasting a reduction in added money, Mr Mackinnon referred to the effects o£ the depression, and said that the Victoria Racing Club at least would have to consider methods by which economy could be practised. “We have become so accustomed to large stakes that any suggestion that a reduction is likely causes alarm,” Mr Mackinnon said, “If we have to reduce stake-money within the next twelve months, no sane man should grumble. It can be taken for granted that the added money for the Melbourne Cup, Victoria Derby and Oaks, and other classics will not be curtailed in any way. The conditions for these races have been decided upon, and they are in the nature of a contract which cannot be broken—and would not, even if it could.
“There appears to be an impression that we will decide upon a general reduction of stakes. Such a course is, however, out of the question. We cannot foresee the future, and if we decided that stakes generally were to come down say, 10 per cent, we might find ourselves in an awkward position ! in the event of conditions altering before the season closed. No, we will consider each programme on its merits.” The Victoria Racing Club's profit, which in 1928-29 was £22,527, fell to £5864 this year, representing the smallest profit since 1917, the third year of the war, when the net revenue amounted only to £2S6S. The stakes distributed in tlve last twelve months amounted to £4357 in excess of the figures for the preceding year, reaching the record total of £113,349. The largest profit made bv the club in forty-three years was £39,690 in 1920. The leanest years were IS9I and 1892—years of depression—when the figures were £662 and £4Bl respectively.-
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Star (Christchurch), Issue 19158, 26 August 1930, Page 12
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335RACING IN AUSTRALIA AFFECTED BY DEPRESSION Star (Christchurch), Issue 19158, 26 August 1930, Page 12
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