Early Acceptances For Holiday Meetings Not Appreciated By Owners

Wanganui Chronicle, 21 December 1950, Page 3

Early Acceptances For Holiday Meetings Not Appreciated By Owners

(By

“Kestrel”)

The spate of race meetings to be held during the Christmas and New Year holiday has presented owners and trainers with the usual problem of planning programmes for their charges, and some of them are finding it an expensive proposition.

Adding to the expenses of some is the action of more than one club in taking acceptances for New Year racing in the week prior to the opening of the Christmas fixtures. The Thames Jockey Club will hold its summer meeting on Saturday, January 6, but the ciub took acceptances for the fixture on Monday ol this week. As might be expected, fields are of large dimensions. Six horses were balloted out of the principal event, the Goldfields Cup, with the right of re-entry, and a ballot will be operated in the Thames Hack Cup. .the Hauraki Plains Handicap and the County Hack Handicap. Provision will be made for divisions in the Puriri Plate, the Tapu Stakes and the Kopu Highweight, the only event not affected being the open sprint. With four days’ racing to be held at Ellerslie prior to the Thames fixture, there will probably be a multitude of rehandicaps to be issued, and in addition there may be defections as a result of hard tracks affecting horses racing at Ellerslie. Thames fields on the day, more than a fortnight hence, may be substantially different from those first announced. I The Wairarapa Racing Club, which I will hold its meeting on Saturday, December 30, and Monday, January 1, also appears to find it necessary to take early acceptances, for these close tonight. Before the meeting at Tauherenikau next Saturday week there vzill be racing at Awapuni on Saturday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Owners may find themselves unable to continue the engagements of their horses after the Manawatu meeting, yet they will not be entitled to a refund of the acceptances taken a week earlier. Probably some body like the Owners, Breeders and Trainers’ Associa- ■ ition may feel impelled to take up the I cudgels on behalf of those who contribute materially to the upkeep of the sport of racing.