TOTALISATOR BETTING

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 173, 25 July 1939, Page 4

TOTALISATOR BETTING

| GALLOPS AND TROTS I OVER £8,000,000 THIS YEAR With four hunt meetings, two in each island, to be held prior to the closing of the season on July 31, the betting figures for the Dominion show a substantial increase on the totaL of recent years. In both racing and trotting the year’s investments will aggregate something over .£8,000,000, which will take the figures more than d H.000.0U0 ahead of last year's joint n total. Without the four hunt meetings still to be held, the totalisator investments c i for galloping meetings alone during c the current term are £5,732,142, and this sum will be carried to something e like £5,781,000 when the season ends after the racing on Saturday week. v The aggregate last season was £5,289,- ‘ 415 10s, and that for the previous season was £4,607,069 10s. J The increase last year over the previous season was about 124 per cent.; J that for this season will be about 8i per cent. This indicates a slowing-up ' of the rate of increase, and pos-Liy a the peak of the present cycle will be e reached in the new season. There are nine racing districts in the Dominion ana the figures (.without the four meetings still to come) are as under: Auckland 2,094,408 Wellington 961,982 Canterbury 734,115 s Wanganui b05,27'J 1 Duneuin 354,071 - Hawke's Bay . 297,942 Southland 291,379 ? Taranaki 289.50 J I Greymouth 103,464 i ? The respective figures for the previous season show that the increases everywhere have been substantial, but those enjoyed by clubs in the Wellington and Wanganui racing districts are ’ proportionately greater than in other centres. 3 The most pronounced rise in totalisator betting in the Dominion occur- ’ red just after the Great War. In the 1920-21 season, the total for galloping ‘ and trotting meetings combined was ' £10,121,212, approximately £2,000,000 L above what this season’s aggregate ' will be. 1 Though many clubs have reached ‘ record turnovers during the present ’ season, the majority nave handled I sums below the immediate post war I figures. From 1919-20 till 1928-29 the • ■ combined investments in the Domin- • ion lor galloping and trotting ranged ’ between £7,1)00,000 and the 192ui-2± ‘ peak, and this season the joint total of - over £8,000,000 compares favourably , with any preceding year, excepting only the peak year of the post-war ; boom. In 1930-31 there was the first | steep drop in the figures to £5,279,404, | and the decline fell to the low mark 'of £3,678,251 in 1932-33. Since then ‘ ' the figures have been rising every sea- ' son, but the rate of improvement has . ' slowed up a bit this season and it may . not be long now before it levels out.