LIGHT HARNESS SPORT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 268, 13 November 1945, Page 7

LIGHT HARNESS SPORT

WANGANUI TROTTING CLUB TO RACE IN JANUARY

Alter a lapse of nearly six years, (rotting will be revived in Wanganui in January next, when the Wanganui Trotting Club will hold a two-day meeting, probably on January 22 (Anniversary Day) and Saturday, January 26. As a preliminary, the annual meeting of members of the Wanganui Trotting Club, on Thursday of this week, will serve to focus attention on preparations for the light-har-ness fixture.

Business to receive the attention of members at the annual meeting will include the election of patron, president, three vice-presidents treasurer and four committeemen. Present, officers in those positions are as follow: Patron, Mr. Thos. Mitchell; president, Dr. Geo. J. Adams; vice-presidents, Messrs. B. R. Dobbs, A. G. Mills and P. Carmichael; hon. treasurer, Mr. R. V. Brown; committee, Messrs. W. R. Tullock, F. Falconer, C. Aitken, A. Muller, B. M. Leigh, B. M. Pitkethley, G. W. Perrett and G. P. Hawkins. Four of the committeemen, Messrs. Falconer, Aitken, Leigh and Perrett, retire by rotation but are eligible for re-election.

Following is the annual report to be submitted by the president: “In presenting the annual report of the Wanganui Trotting Club, it is only natural that my first reference should be to the great victory which we a ll trust will have everlasting effects in the direction of creating and maintaining the world’s peace in the years to come. Our first thoughts go to those of our boys who have fallen in the fight for freedom, and our next thoughts to those who have served so valiantly and have been spared to return to their loved ones. Furthermore, mention might be made of Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin, whose greatness will be recorded in the history of the future and to whom we owe so much. “The cessation of hostilities has permitted the Minister of Internal Affairs to release racing and trotting dates to the full extent, and your club has been granted its usual two-day permit, for trotting. During the recess your committee has done its utmost to obtain a permit for a meeting but without avail. A point that I would like you all to appreciate is that we have not been sitting back with no attempt in that direction. Everything within our power has been done. Now that we have had our permits restored your committee has given full consideration to the most appropriate time for such a fixture and has come to the conclusion that Anniversary Day (January 22) and the following Saturday (January 26) will be the most suitable, since it is impossible for us to get a date in the West Coast circuit owing to the Jockey Club racing on April 6 and 13. “Your committee is at present negotiating with the Wellington Trotting Club, whose meeting is on February 2, with the object of improving our stakes and tightening our classes, and .we hope that a deputation will be received by them during the next week or two.

“Financially your club has had no source of revenue for the past few years owing to failure to be granted a permit to race, but the- loyalty o! a large umber of members has been I the means of keeping the club afloat. I However, during the recess we have been in touch with the Trotting Conference and, through grants from them, we have been able to wipe off some of our liabilities. Furthermore, we are at present in negotiation with the Internal Affairs Department with the hope of being assisted out of the War Expenses Account to the extent of relief from our outstanding debt to the above department. This fulfilled, we shall have a fairly clean sheet, an entirely different picture to that when we revived our trotting in 1934 with a debt of over £4OOO.

“It behoves everybody now to get their shoulders to the wheel and make a success of the club. New members are required, contact should be made on all possible occasions with owners and trainers to encourage them to visit us and attend our meetings; and above all we should encourage the ownership of trotters within the district. Two or three training stables in Wanganui would make all the difference in the world to our trotting prospects.

“In conclusion my thanks are extended to the members of the committee for their very loyal support during the year, and special mention must be made of the service rendered by Mrs. Brisco during the absence of your secretary, Mr. C. S. Swan, whom I am sure you all welcome back from service.”