THE A.R.C AND THE BOOKMAKERS.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XIV, Issue 814, 12 October 1905, Page 7

THE A.R.C AND THE BOOKMAKERS.

WAS THE CLUB’S RECENT ACTION WARRANTED ? No event which has happened for a very long time has caused such a stir in sporting circles as the sudden decision by the committee of the Auckland Racing Club to exclude the bookmakers from plying their calling on the Ellerslie course. It has formed almost the sole topic of conversation, and all sorts of opinions have been expressed, both for and against the resolution. Opinions, however, have not been so divided as to the hasty character of the new legislation which has come in for almost universal condemnation, and it would appear that, judged from this point of view, a very grave injustice has been done to a large number of people. In this connection it is pertinent to ask what would the A.R.C. have thought if the Government, without a single word of warning, had suddenly cancelled the totalisator license for the club, and this after the season’s programme had been arranged? Such action would have been viewed with blank dismay, and would have meant a wholesale cutting down of stakes and salaries. Yet this is just the sort of action that the club has put into force against the bookmakers. It must not be overlooked that the members of Tattersail’s Club have in the past contributed many thousands of pounds to the coffers of the racing club, and their claim to receive fair play is both a reasonable and a just one. Twelve months’ notice should have been granted them before taking away their means of livelihood and throwing their employees out of work. Mr. Mitchelson, the president of the club, who occupied the chair at the committee meeting, moved the resolution excluding the bookmakers, and the voting being even it was carried on. his casting vote, which, of course, is quite contrary to custom. However, putting this side of the case on one side, it may be as well to look into actual facts and endeavour to see what the club hopes to gain by the new departure. Now, if the regulation was aimed at the restriction of gambling, it would have the full sympathy of many who are now totally opposed to it. On Mr. Mitchelson’s own showing it appears, however, that so far from this being the case, an increase is hoped for. In discussing the point the president is reported to have said that “ the .amount received from bookmakers for 1904-1905 was £2593. Now, in order to make up this loss the machines would require an additional £35,000 put through them for the year, taking the club’s profit at 7| per cent. There is racing on 13 days during the year, with 101 races, and this would mean that we should have to make an average increase on the totalisator takings of £2693 per day, or £347 per race. Now, if this amount is secured in addition to the present takings, it would compensate the club for the loss of the bookmakers’ fees. I am thoroughly convinced that the profits of the club would bo very large if the bookmakers are excluded. I think I am understating the case if I say that 11 of the principal bookmakers—and there are 33 in Auckland—handle between them £6960 per race, or a total of, say, £90,500 in round figures. The commission of 10 per cent, on this sum would be £9048, less 2| per cent., £2035 10s, leaving £7012 10s. Deducting the loss of the sale of booths, £260, from this £7012 10s, we have left £6752 10s, whereas we now receive £2593 10s from the bookmakers. So you see that there would be a profit through the increased business on the totalisator of £4159.” From this it will be seen that the resolution does in no sense aim at the restriction of betting on the racecourse, so that it has not this feature to commend it. This must be very clearly borne in mind, because in a number of interviews and letters on the subject published in the daily papers, many of the speakers and writers, who are evidently not conversant with the subject, seem to think that the new regulation is worthy of all praise as a means of stamping out gambling, which Mr. Mitchelson’s remarks quoted above clearly demonstrate is not the case. In collecting his figures and facts it is to be regretted that the president did not obtain his information from a reliable source, which would have been quite a simple thing to do, as several of the leading pencillers would have been prepared to produce their books for his inspection if requested to do so. If this had been done he would not have fallen into so many serious errors in dealing with the figures. For instance, he is reported to

have said that he had been informed that there was £9OO invested upon Kremlin at the last winter meeting at Ellerslie. Now, as Kremlin was not a competitor at the meeting, this could hardly ha- r e been the case. Mr. Mitchelson js of the opinion that he is understating the case when asserting that eleven of the principal bookmakers handle between them £6960 per race. This contention cannot, however, hold water for a minute, and the figures are so greatly in excess of the truth that one wonders at a gentleman of Mr. Mitchelson’s experience being misled by them. Another fact which has been entirely lost sight of in making up the expected increased revenue is this: In nearly every race on the card the bookmaker himself is the largest individual investor on the totalisator. He is frequently compelled to use the machine when he has overlaid his book or from other reasons, and in the course of a year puts a large amount of cash into the totalisator. The truth of this statement can be easily verified by inquiry from the totalisator manager. If the bookmakers are prohibited from doing business, the club’s percentage on all this would be lost and the revenue correspondingly decreased. In addition, last year the A.R.C. received no less a sum than £2593 as fees from bookmakers, the latter paying £75 per man, which, it may be remarked, is the same as that charged for a license by the Australian Jockey Club in Sydney, where there is no totalisator to bet against, and the attendance is far greater. This loss will require a lot of making up, and we cannot help thinking that the president is rather optimistic in his opinion on the matter. It must not be forgotten that there will be an additional loss of levenue from the decrease in entries. Most of the bookmakers own racehorses, which are freely entered at the different meetings, but in future this will not be so. It would certainly seem that, judged from the financial point of view, the new resolution stands condemned. There is still another side of the case to be considered. Without the lorseowners and the public the racing club cannot hope to carry on. Now it is veil known that the majority of the horseowners greatly prefer to bet w'rh the bookmakers, for since the introduction of the one-two system of dividends, the totalisator odds have become too cramped as a rule to enable profitable business to be done. As far as the public are concerned, the same remark holds good, for as there is no compulsion to bet with the bookmaker, why is it such a number do so? It is, of course, because they prefer it, and surely the public should be considered in some degree. Summed up, it may be said that the case for the new regulation is that there is a possibility, and a possibility only, of an ncreased revenue for the club, which seems to be all that can be said in its favour. On the other side, we have the certainty that it will not decrease gambling, that it is not desired either by owners or by the sporting public, that it will place the club in a very awkward position in the contingency of the withdrawal of the totalisator permit, that it is a grave injustice on a number of men who have been of immense financial assistance to the club in the post, and that the main object desired—the larger revenue—is extremely problematical. A general meeting will be held shortly to consider the position, and we have no hesitation in saying that, with the true facts of the case before them, the hasty resolution of the committee will be amended, if not rescinded altogether.

The Caulfield Guineas will be decided on Saturday next. * * * * The weights for the City Handicap and Manukau Hurdles are due on Friday. Owing to Mr. Evett’s illness their publication may be delayed. General entries for the Auckland Racing Club’s Spring Meeting are due tomorrow week. ***■#• The Ben Godfrey horse Stibbington has been sent to the Far North to take up stud duties. * * * * Nightfall still rules favourite for the New Zealand Cup. * * * * Mr. Chadwick has been appointed handicapper for the Taranaki Jockey Club. * * * * The spring meeting of the Wellington Racing Club commences next Wednesday. * * * * J The Wellington Park Stud is to be submitted to auction on December 30. * * * * Mr. Henrys thinks Machine Gun a 51b better horse than Achilles over six furlongs, judging by his Stewards’ Handicap adjustment. It remains to be proved.

It will be bad news to many to learn that Mr. J. 0. Evett, the veteran handicapper, has been seriously ill. Fortunately the latest bulletin from Paeroa reports Mr. Evett as being much better. * * * * Mark Ryan and other experts who have seen most of the racecourses in New Zealand and the Australian States all agree that the new fence round the Ellerslie racing track could not possibly be improved upon. The bolts that were prominent next the sand gallop have had a board placed round, and the fence is now perfect. « • • « Over the late Hawke’s Bay meeting the ring had all the best of the argument, and punters who pinned their faith to the favourites are now sadder but wiser men. * # * # The local neddy, Neotorini, was left severely alone on the first day of the Hawke’s Bay meeting, but on the second day quite a wave of the argus-eyed punters came cheerfully tumbling over one another for a slice of the good thing which duly eventuated. * * * * Mr. Stead added another classic race, the Hawke’s Bay Guineas, to his already big collection, with the aid of Cuneiform. Mr. Stead’s stable seems to be “ all form.” * * * * Old Solo, after several months’ absence from the training tracks, is back again. The chestnut has quite an ancient look. * * « * Discoverer, who has been trained for some time at Papakura, has gone into C. Coleman’s stable at Ellerslie. * * * * Tuesday being very wet and the tracks in a dirty state, there was only from half to three-quarter-pace work done on the sand and tan tracks. * * w * Business on the New Zealand Cup is almost at a standstill. Until it is known which Mr. Stead has selected as his candidate, people prefer to wait till the day, when the horses will be bracketed on the machine. Nightfall is being coupled with most of the supposed good things in the Stewards’ Handicap, and also with the favourites in the Melbourne Cup, but there will not be much life infused into the Cup speculations until after the next payment on the 20th. * * * * Of the yearlings sold in England last .year 16 cost 30,830 guineas. Of that lot eight have been tried in public, and not one has succeeded in winning a race. For one of the failures Mr. R. H. Henning paid 2200 guineas, while Mr. Lionel G. Robinson gave 1400 guineas for another. * * * * In referring to the fact that all the .Duke of Westminster’s nominations for the English Derby of 1907 were refused because of informality, Mr. John Corlett says :— ‘ ‘Every rule, clause, or condition that could be violated was violated. To begin with, there was a mistake in the telegram as to the name of the sender. If there had not been this mistake, it would have been equally bad, as the sender had no authority to enter. The name of the Duke of Westminster, as owner, was omitted, the telegram was not confirmed, and the rule as to registration was altogether ignored. There is nothing like doing a thing completely when you are about it.” * * * * Poor old Denhorse, the much travelled, appears to have experienced a stroke of bad luck. He was recently taken to New York, and at his first appearance finished second, coming with a late run when his stable companion was beaten. He made a good impression, and when he ran at Saratoga a few weeks later was made a hot favourite for the big jumping event, the Shillalah Steeplechase. Unluckily, he struck one jump so hard that he had to be pulled up, and hobbled off the course on three legs. The injured leg was so badly stripped, and otherwise knocked about, that it is improbable that the chestnut will ever be able to race again. However, as he is a stallion, he will still be worth something for stud purposes. * * * * In New Zealand, West Australia, and elsewhere, efforts are being made to suppress those individuals who act as agents for the sale of tickets in “ Tattersall’s” sweeps. In Perth recently, Messrs. Gutman and Watson, who advertised that they communicate with “Tattersall,” were fined on a charge of keeping a common gaming-house. They appealed, and the W.A. Full Court has decided in their favour on the grounds that the appellants did not enter into a contract with the purchaser, and did not guarantee him a return in the shape of tickets or anything else. Consequently they were not agents of “ Tattersall’s,” but agents for the purchaser.

Rose and White has produced a filly to Soult at Glenora Park. The newcomer is a full sister to Wairiki. * * * * Owners of trotting stock should not overlook the fact that acceptances for all events to be decided at the spring meeting of the Auckland Trotting Club close with Mr. Mark to-morrow (Friday) evening at nine o’clock. * * * * The privileges in connection with the approaching spring meeting of the Auckland Trotting Club will be submitted to auction by Messrs. Gabriel Lewis and Co. on Friday next at noon. * * * * Noteorini paid for his trip to Napier, the Eton gelding picking up a race each day of the meeting. * # * * H. J. Hawkins, who was in Auckland some years ago with Sierra, Lady Florence and Holywood, is back again from Western Australia. He has been granted a trainer’s and driving license by the Trotting Association, and has established himself at Onehunga. Hawkins brings with him some first-class credentials as a steady and conscientious trainer, and it should not be long before he has a number of trotters in his stable to look after. * * ■* * The entries of Mr. J. Wren’s horses for the V.R.C. Meeting have been refused. Strangely enough, just at the time the Melbourne man’s entries were refused, he was forwarding an application to the V.R.C. to open a new racecourse at Elthain, where he purposed distributing £lOOO a day in prize-money, with one £lO,OOO race annually. Mr. Wren owned the last Caulfield Cup winner, Murmur. « * » * The privileges for the annual show of the Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Association, which takes place on November 24 and 25, will be offered by auction by Messrs. G. W. Binney and Sons at the Association Rooms, Queen-street, on Wednesday, October 25. « * * * Mr. Charles Perkins, a very well-known owner of racehorses in England, died the other day as the result of a motor car accident. The deceased gentleman, who was a very wealthy colliery proprietor, resided in the north of England, and for many years his horses were trained by I’Anson, at Malton. Mr. Perkins won many important handicaps during his career, but his only success in classic events was when Jenny Howlet won the Oaks of 1880 in his colours. * * * * The American sportsman, Mr. R. Croker, has sold his three two-year-old fillies—by St. Simon out of Tragedy, by Gallinule out of Tierce, and by Gallinule out of Moira—to Captain Orr-Ewing. As yearlings they cost Mr. Croker 8800 guineas, and it is stated that their aggregate price in the recent sale was 6000 guineas. All three fillies were sent to Brewer’s stable early this year, but Mr. Croker was forced to take them from Newmarket, owing to the refusal of the Jockey Club to allow his horses to be trained on the Heath. * * * * Probably the best-known trainer in the world to-day is John Porter, who is,’however, now retiring. During Porter’s extended career no less than twenty-four classic winners have emanated from his stable, viz., Shotover, Paradox, Ormonde, Common, and Flying Fox in the. Two Thousand; Farewell and La Fleche in the One Thousand; Blue Gown, Shotover, St. Blaise, Ormonde, Sainfoin, Common, and Flying Fox in the Derby; Geheimniss, La Fleche, and La Roche in the Oaks; Paradox in the Grand Prix de Paris; and Pere Gomez, Ormonde, Common, La Fleche, Throstle, and Flying Fox in the St. Leger. Each of the “ten thousand pounders” has fallen to his share more than once, viz., the Eclipse Stakes to Orbit, Orme (twice),, and Flying Fox; the Princess of Wales’ Stakes to Le Var and Flying Fox; and the Jockey Club Stakes to Flying Fox and Pietermartizburg. The Ascot Gold Cup has been secured by Blue Gown, Isonomy (twice), and William the Third; the Middle Park Plate by Green Sleeves, Pere Gomez, Friar’s Balsam, and Orme; and practically all the most important handicaps have been won by horses trained by Porter. Altogether the horses trained at Kingsclere have garnered stakes to the value of nearly £BOO,OOO. Kingsclere, as its name indicates, has regal associations, and can trace its history back to King Alfred, its subsequent royal visitors being Henry 1., Henry 11., King John, and the present King of England. John Porter quits a very difficult and arduous profession, that is beset with endless trials and temptations, without the faintest shadow of suspicion having ever attached to his name, and with the respect and admiration of his many patrons, amongst whom have been the highest in the land.