Sporting and Dramatic REVIEW . . AND . . LICENSED VICTUALLERS’ GAZETTE. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE WEEKLY STANDARD. Thursday, June 24, 1897. THE RECORD YEAR.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume VII, Issue 361, 24 June 1897, Page 4

Sporting and Dramatic REVIEW . . AND . . LICENSED VICTUALLERS’ GAZETTE. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE WEEKLY STANDARD. Thursday, June 24, 1897. THE RECORD YEAR.

Although the racing season does not close until July 31, so far as our leading Metropolitan Club is concerned it has practically closed, and with the sound of the Queen’s Jubilee festivities in our ears, it seems to be quite in accordance with everything else to find that the year has been a record one in the history of the New Zealand turf. V\ e read in our cablegrams that foreign newspapers applaud the Queen, and admit the amazing progress of Britain during her reign. Great as her commercial progress has been, so also has been her progress in national and manly sports, foremost among which is horse racing, and now, after years of care in fostering the sport, Mr Percival and the committee of the Auckland Racing Club can look back to a year of unprecedented success. That the sport has grown in the Auckland district is shown by the existence of such splendid breeding institutions as Wellington Park, Sylvia Park, Motu Korea, and other smaller establishments. The possession of such animals as St. Leger, Castor,'Hotchk’ss, Regel,St. Hippo, Medallion, to say nothing of our splendidlybred brood mares, and such rising stock as Gold Medallist and Multiform are examples in evidence that the breeding of the thoroughbred is not here neglected, while perhaps the most satisfactory feature of the past year’s racing of the Auckland Club, so far as its executive officers are concerned, is the financial success with which their efforts have been attended. One good indication of the increased popularity of racing in Auck-

land is given by the totalisator returns which for the two years are as follows:— 1895-96. 1896-97. ■ First Spring ...£8,197 First Spring ...£11,323 Second Spring ... 12,043 Second Spring ... 12,679 Summer ... ... 31,799 Summer ... ... 42,670 Autumn 17,479 Autumn 20,848 Grand National ...11,779 Grand National ... 12,848 £81,297 £100,366 Thus it will be seen that the increase in favour of 1896-97 is £19,069, while from bookmaking fees a substantial revenue, amounting to nearly £lOOO, was derived, but this an item that cannot be implicitlydepended upon if Judge Hawkins’interpretation of the Betting Houses Suppression Act continues to be accepted as correct. However, there is the possibility of some amendment being required of a law that in many respects is vexatiously contradictory. It is an offence for instance for a bookmaker to advertise in the Sporting Review, or any other paper, that he is prepared to do business on the Melbourne or New Zealand Cups. The faddist who wants to suppress the sport of the Turf would hold up his hands in holy horror and invoke the law to stop this gambling, but he is silent when the tote advertisement is published—“ The secretary will receive money for investment. No notice taken of contingent instructions.” Still more silent does the faddist become when one of his own pals, probably, advertises a church bazaar with all prizes and no blanks. Betting in connection with the Turf is inseparable from the sport, and if it is not a sin to invest money on a tote why should it be made an offence to bet with a bookmaker? In consequence of the prosecutions in Sydney we learn from the secretary of a leading New South Wales club that horse-racing there has been most seriously damaged, and that every race meeting at present is being conducted at a loss. This is a state of affairs that cannot be expected to last long. If it does, clubs may be expected to shut up their gates, while sportsmen will emigrate to India, South Africa, or any place where horse racing is permitted.