MAIDEN PACERS

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27396, 8 July 1954, Page 4

MAIDEN PACERS

CONFERENCE DEBATES QUALIFICATION EXECUTIVE’S REMIT LOST A remit, introduced on behalf of the executive by Mr W. E. Desmond, and seeking to make it mandatory for maiden pacers to be qualified before the time of ribminaton, was rejected at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Trotting Conference in Christchurch yesterday. There had been several cases where qualified maiden -pacers had been eliminated from races, and horses which had been left in in the hope that they would qualify before the day of the races had remained in fields, said Mr Desmond. The executive considered that this should be avoided, and the remit proposed would bring about the desired result.

His club strongly opposed the suggestion, said Mr W. A. Craddock (Westport). Secretaries were not doing their job properly if they allowed the practice complained of to occur. In some outlying districts, trials had not been held when withdrawals were taken, and the proposal would be a hardship for them.

Messrs E. R. Hooker (Taranaki) and B. Rushton, jun. (Wairio) suported Mr Craddock.

There was considerable difficulty in the North Island in getting trials at which to qualify horses, said Mr N. Simpson (Franklin). Perhaps the executive’s proposal could be made to read “at the time of withdrawal” instead of “at the time of nomination.” Owners had to wait for clubs to run trials in the North Island, Mr Simpson said.

The meeting of secretaries on Tuesday evening had decided that horses should be qualified at the time of withdrawal, said Mr Craddock.

When the remit was put to the vote, there were 21 votes in favour of it and 15 against, but because there was not a two-thirds majority, the remit was lost. The fact that some clubs ran special races for three and four-year-old horses with stakes little better than for maiden races defeated the purpose of qualifying trials, said Mr Desmond, when, on behalf of the executive, he moved a remit to make it necessary for four-year-olds to qualify to start. By the time a horse was four years of age, it had had plenty of time to qualify, he said. The remit, which alters Rule 109 (3), was carried unanimously.