Approach by clubs welcomed

Press, 2 July 1983, Page 19

Approach by clubs welcomed

Special correspondent Auckland If there was one thing that pleased the Auckland lawyer, Mr Dewar Robertshaw, most concerning his election as president of the New Zealand Trotting Conference, it was the nonparochial attitude of clubs.

The actual voting figures — Mr Robertshaw won by 14 votes — were announced at the annual meeting of the conference in Napier yesterday. They reveal that the defeat of Sir James Barnes, of Dunedin, who had held the post for four years, was because of strong South Island support for Mr Robertshaw. There are 35 clubs in the South Island and 23 in the North Island. “The result,” says Mr. Robertshaw, “shows that parochialism played no part and that clubs voted for the man and not the district.” Mr Robertshaw had only once before sought conference office — he stood unsuccessfully for the executive some years ago — but he has been a prominent figure at the annual conference since he was appointed an Auckland club delegate in 1972. His contributions were recognised by conference delegates when, in 1981, he was nominated from the floor for the position of trotting representative on the Totalisator Agency Board. He was elected and duly appointed to the board by the Minister of Internal Affairs. At last year’s conference, he was approached by several South Island clubs and asked if he was prepared to stand for the presidency. Eventually, four southern clubs wanted to nominate him. “But one, Waikouaiti, was enough,” he said, “because

my own club and Pukekohe had already nominated me.” Mr Robertshaw, who is aged 68, began practice as a barrister and solicitor in Hamilton in 1937. Mr Robertshaw has some firm ideas regarding the administration of trotting at top level. He intends to have a good hard look at dates and other areas. One of these areas is transport costs, especially to meetings in the southern half of the North Island. He believes headquarters (Christchurch) should take a more active part in programmes and try to avoid clashes in types of races. He gives as an example races for two-year-old fillies on successive nights at Cambridge and Alexandra Park earlier this month.

"Both fields suffered through there being two weak fields instead of one strong one. “Individual clubs don’t know but headquarters does and they should compare programmes, not merely rubber-stamp them,” Mr Robertshaw said. He feels, too, clubs should get together more regarding programmes, withdrawals and selection of fields. Mr Robertshaw is concerned that the conference executive often does not implement recommendations passed at the annual meeting of the conference. “If it is not practical to implement them,” he maintains, “clubs should be told why. When asked, the executive says 'they were only recommendations.’ That is not good enough.”