THE TOTE OR NO TOTE.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1521, 19 June 1919, Page 9

THE TOTE OR NO TOTE.

In England the advisableness or otherwise of trying to get the totalisator installed has lately been discussed. This is what the London “Referee” has to say on the subject:—There seems no prospect of an end to the discussion as to the desirability or otherwise of introducing the parimutuel. Ardent supporters of the machine appear to be balanced with more or less equality against keen opponents, and meantime the question as to its legality remains unanswered. For the most part the supporters are backers of the variety known as “small,” the temptation being the long prices which have sometimes been returned against outsiders. Perhaps these supporters do not quite sufficiently realise the likelihood, or it should rather be said the extreme unlikelihood, of their being lucky enough to “find” one of those richly remunerative animals. When the odds were displayed after a race on French courses there has frequently been an expressive murmur from the crowd in waiting to ascertain what their tickets were worth. On rare occasions this murmur has been

eloquent of gratified astonishment. They have to draw a good deal more than they had anticipated. Much more often it has told a contrary tale: they have expected a reasonable shade of odds and they learn that their ten francs has yielded 4.50 dr something of that sort. As a rule owners and big bettors are united in their dislike of the machine. They can well-nigh invariably obtain much longer prices from the ring. Having made their wagers, it matters nothing to them how the price shortens. With the pari-mutuel, when they have made their investment, and the fact becomes obvious, rumour of the supposed good thing spreads, and the price they have taken is correspondingly reduced. Therefore the owners and big bettors, who have more influence than the small backers, protest against the introduction. The ring constitutes another most formidable body of opponents. If they were superseded by the machine their occupation would be gone. Even if ring and machine were both in action the bookmakers’ business would suffer. Nobody denies that the parimutuel would be in one way advantageous: the percentage withdrawn might be beneficially utilised. Perhaps it is short-sighted policy for a backer to declare that he has no great anxiety to devote a portion of his

winnings — when he has any —to schemes for turf betterment, that he prefers to keep all he can get hold of. But some men are like that! I hardly expect to find the machine in operation on English courses.