Question Of Trotting Dates Settled

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31111, 14 July 1966, Page 5

Question Of Trotting Dates Settled

The vexed question of dates has been settled meantime by the New Zealand Trotting Conference. A surprisingly small number of changes were made to the original applications by clubs when the dates committee met in Auckland on Monday.

Their decisions were subsequently confirmed at the annual meeting of the conference on Tuesday.

Few changes of consequence have been made to dates sought by South Island clubs, while the alterations made to North Island dates have done little to extend the racing season. North Island owners and trainers should be better off than has been the case for some time even though the season there will not start until the Wellington meeting on September 10 and 13, followed by the Auckland meeting on September 17 and 24. The North Island dates appear to have been spread more evenly between September 10 and the Cambridge meeting on June 6 than has been the case for years.

The conference has not gone as far as was suggested in the recommendations of the Auckland Trotting Owners’, Trainers’ and Breeders’ Association, which had planned for from three to seven meetings a month between September and June. Strong protests by a number of clubs weighed against the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club being allowed to race at night on October 18, the day before the Greymouth meeting. The Greymouth club lodged a very strong objection”* on the grounds that drivers might not travel to the West Coast meeting. However, when last the Greymouth elub raced, on April 4 and 6, a number of the best-known drivers travelled to and from Greymouth for each night. The Metropolitan club will, now race on October 26 at a time when a fast-class race could effect the Hannon Memorial Handicap at Oamaru on October 24. The dates committee was no doubt well aware of this possibility when it made the change. Hororata Club On occasions the Hororata club has been forced to race against Nelson and Forbury Park when it has used its permit at the end of January. The dates committee apparently decided against allowing this clash to occur next season and the Hororata <dub will now race on April 29, against the first night of the Forbury Park Trotting Club’s winter meeting. This date could prove quite successful as far as Hororata is concerned, but it might be late enough in the season for a “picnic” meeting. A change has been made by the Nelson dub for its winter meeting. It will revert to racing on Saturday and Monday instead of Saturday and Tuesday this season. This will reduce costs for owners and trainers even though it might reduce slightly offcourse betting on the second day of the meeting. Also, it

will enable the Rangiora club, which races the following Saturday, to delay handicaps until after the Nelson meeting. Next season will get under way a week earlier than usual in the South Island with the Kurow meeting on August 13. The Kurow club will cater for slow-class horses and while fields might not be large, they should be of reasonable size for all classes and the meeting could develop into a most popular one. Some changes of a fairly

minor nature could result if the General Election is held towards the end of November. As far as trotting clubs are concerned November 12 would be an ideal date. No trotting club will race that day and only three galloping clubs—Canterbury, Avondale and Feilding—have applied to hold meetings then. However, it seems more likely that the New Zealand Metropolitan and Franklin meetings on November 19, or the Geraldine and Wyndham meetings a week later will be affected.