THE NEW ZEALAND RACING CONFERENCE.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XIV, Issue 854, 19 July 1906, Page 9

THE NEW ZEALAND RACING CONFERENCE.

The Racing Conference met in Wellington on Thursday, Sir George Clifford being in the chair. The president made a lengthy speech, in which the season’s work was referred to in eulogistic terms. The chief event had been the decision of many of the clubs to refrain from licensing bookmakers. Twenty years’ (said Sir George) participation in the sport had convinced him that no man pursuing it within his means and as a pastime safeguarded by their present rules, need blush at his connection with it. They must, however, acknowledge the presence of accessories over which they had little or no control, and from which it was the duty of the State to rid them by enforcement of the existing laws. Never, perhaps, in the long history of racing was any country better supplied with the means of severing from racing every objectionable adjunct. “ We have sufficient owners of probity in whom the public have confidence, and we have means of innocent speculation which can only harm the stupidly reckless. We have a board of control in this conference whose steady aim is the removal of abuses, and we reject the bookmaker and the professional gambler from our courses. For the full realisation of our ideal of clean sport we only ask for the effective execution of the law, which surely we have a just claim to demand. In conclusion, I think that the time has come when the Conference might set up a committee with power to avail itself of the machinery to deal with suspected malpractices. There seems to be no valid reason why the licensing of owners should not be entrusted to a committee.” A discussion took place on the proposal by Mr. Stead to exclude the

putting of those in arrear with their entrance and acceptance money on the forfeit list. These payments, he argued, should be cash. The motion was lost by 14 votes to 26. A motion to allow pony racing at agricultural shows was lost on the voices. A motion to make appointment to judicial committees by clubs compulsory instead of optional was lost by 12 to 28. A motion by Mr. Abbott, providing that no club shall give less in stakes than the net amount derived by a club in the previous year from the totalisator, was agreed to. The following resolutions were carried:— That the programme of every race meeting shall contain at least one flat race of not less than one mile on each day. That the maximum amount of stakes in hack races be increased to £lOO in single stake and £250 collectively. That in entering a horse the name of the trainer shall be stated, and that on the official card at the race meetings the name of the trainer of each horse shall be printed. That no jockey under 21 years of age, unless he is in the regular employment of an owner or trainer, or who has not ridden 20 races in the previous year, shall be entitled to receive a jockey’s license. That the metropolitan committee may refuse to approve the programme of any club using a totalisator which permits bookmakers to bet on its course. That in the event of five or fewer starters the property of different owners, the dividend shall be paid on the first horse only. That it be left in the hands of the president to consider the advisability of the Conference issuing its own Official Calendar. A motion in favour of jockeys’ fees being payable at the scales, moved by Mr. Stead and supported by Sir George Clifford, was lost by one vote. Mr. F. Earl (Auckland) moved a new rule providing that the metropolitan committee shall have power to appoint an advisory steward for any meeting in its district, such steward to have power to demand the investigation of any matters occurring at the race meeting. The motion was withdrawn. It was decided that the executive should take steps to provide machinery by which suspected cases of malpractice may be investigated and dealt with by a permanent tribunal appointed by the Conference. Sir George Clifford was re-elected president.

TOTALISATOR PERMITS AND DATES FOR NEXT SEASON. The Permits and Dates Committee recommended that Otaki Maori Racing Club be granted October 11 and 12; that the Wellington Racing Club be granted October 17 to 20; that the applications of the Dannevirke Jockey Club, Ohinemuri Jockey Club, Ta-ratahi-Carterton Racing Club, Marton Jockey Club, Pahiatua Racing Club, Avondale Jockey Club (new application) and Forbury Park Racing Club be not granted. The application of Manawatu Racing Club for a three days’ meeting was agreed to. The Ashhurst Club’s application for two days was refused. The Stratford Racing Club, which applied for January 1 and 2, was asked to choose another date. The Wanganui Jockey Club, which applied for March 7 and 8, was given March 8 and 9. The South Canterbury Jockey Club was allowed to alter its application from April 17 and 18 to April 10 and 11. In the Auckland district the applications of the Avondale and Ohinemuri Clubs for extra permits were refused. In the Hawke’s Bay district the Dannevirke Club’s application for an additional permit was refused. In the Otago district the application of the Forbury Park Racing Club for two permits was struck out. Palmerston and Waikouaiti both applied for a permit. Waikouaiti was granted the permit, Palmerston having had it last year. In the Wellington district the applications of the Taratahi-Carter-ton, Wairarapa, and Pahiatua Clubs for additional permits were refused. The number of permits granted was 128. They were allocated to the different districts as follows:—Auckland, 18; Canterbury, 22; Greymouth, 7; Hawke’s Bay, 20; Otago, 26; Taranaki, 8; Wanganui, 13; Wellington, 14. The recommendation was adopted.