SPORTING

Western Star, 24 April 1936, Page 2

SPORTING

birch wood if rvr <lib’s ANNUAL Rl'.l’Oli'i'. The annual re'pmt of the Urehwouu Hunt, as submitted at Wednesday s annual meeting of subscribers, at Otimtau, was as follows : This being th e fiftieth anniversary ot the founding of the Hunt hunting was carried out with great enthusiasm, and all districts made a special effort to entertain the larg e crowds which attended the meets. The pack was hunted continuously for 12 weeks, the open ing run being at Otautau, then Drummond, Oveti, Turi Mossburn, Garston, Parawa, Mandeville, Mataura Glenham, Pine Bush and Wairio. Point to point meets wer e held at Mossbum, Wairio and Otautau. In all, 26 horses paid qualification fees and in every case big fields contested each race meeting at the point to points, which were the outstanding features of the year. Wairio sportsmen are to be congratulated on their effort, it being th ( . for many years. 'The pack is not what we would like it, and arrangements are being made to put the management on a new footing, which we feel sure will have the desired effect.

Oar race meeting, from which we expected to make a large proportion of our revenue to support hunting, showed a lose of £ll 17s Bd. Undoubtedly this loss was brought about by the decision of the hunt executive to eliminate all trotting races from hunt club programmes, as can be seen by a perusal of the totalisato r figures for the race meetings 1935 and 1936. The Birchwood Hunt is the first club to suffer from this restriction and we cannot understand th e reason for the executive making such a decision. During the season several members journeyed over to the Eastern District to witness the Eastern pack in action, and were very pleased with what they saw. W e congratulate th e Eastern District Hunt on becoming affiliated, and feel sure that its efforts will help hunt, ing in general in Southland. We hope to meet some of jts qualified horses at our next race meeting. A donation of £2O was received from the Otago Jockey Club and £lO 10s from the Southland Racing Club, with covering letters thanking th e Hunt tor the good work done in qualifying junipers, and wishing us success in me future. The Hunt appreciates these donations, which ar e of considerable assistance to its finances. The kennels and property are in good order, and it will only need small expenditure to keep them up for the next few years. Financial members stand 109, which must be considered satisfactory.