Untitled

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume IV, Issue 204, 21 June 1894, Page 5

Then there is the lesson taught by the breakdown of the telegraphic system in connection with the nominations for the Great Autumn and Great Easter Handicaps, run at the Autumn meeting of the Canterbury Jockey Club. It will be remembered that through no fault of their owners seven racehorses were excluded from the Great Easter Handicap, and a quartette were debarred from taking part in the Great Autumn Handicap. The Rules of Racing contained no provision to meet the case, the only regulations bearing upon the subject being as follows;—“The list of entries shall be closed at the advertised time, and no entry shall be permitted in any case or on any terms to be made after that time, and if no time be fixed for closing, the list shall not be dosed till midnight of the advertised day.” Such regulations are all very well for ordinary cases, but, as has been shown more than once, extraordinary cases occur, and we think there should be some provision to meet these. To reject entries which arrive too late through no fault of the nominators, but solely through the fault of the Telegraph Department, is neither fair to owners nor the racing clubs. A clause should, be inserted in the rule relating to nominations which would enable racing clubs to exercise their discretion in cases where nominations are delayed in transmission through no fault of the nominator. Certainly one way out of this difficulty would be for the Metropolitan Clubs to appoint agents in every big centre for the lodging of nominations. No vagaries of the telegraph would then affect owners.