REDUCED RACING.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1171, 5 July 1911, Page 5

REDUCED RACING.

ANOTHER PROTEST. ASIMUEST-POHAXGIXA CLUB. A deputation from the AshhurstRacing Club yesterday interviewed the ilini.-tor for Internal Affairs (tho lion. D. liuddo) in connection with Ihe jentence of extermination pronounced upon the club by th'e Kacin;, , C'onuiiis.sion. Mr. I). It. Gutlirie, M.1 , ., introduced the deputation. At tho outset the Minister asked Ihat only the particular hardship of the club be gone into. ]le had already received sn many deputations from racing clubs that he was fully conversant with the general position r?giirding the commission's report on racing ehibs. Mr. Gutlirie said the position of the Ashhurst Club was different to that of others. The Act laid it down that country clubs should ha.re full consideration, and the Minister would remember that in the House the word "preference" (to countrv clubs) would have been carried.in the Bill, only, that it would have meant killing the measure. Xow it was found that the country clubs were not receiving consideration. The Ashhurst Club was satisfied with a one day's meeting, and they also had a classic race in their programmos— the Ashhurst Guineas. The course was freehold, nnd the. appointments wore of the best. Mr: D. M'Carthy (president of the club) ?aid one awkward position the club was landed in was that it had a contract with owners ro run the Guineas race this year,, and if they were unable it might mean trouble for them. The-club had rjcon established for twenty year.", and had paid out as much as .CI 105 in 1 -stakes in one day. Their Cup race had been valued at X'iOO, but now it was a little less. In their programme for the last few years they had never had a race for les. l ; than one hundred sovereigns. The meeting was a social gathsrin.s; for the whole of the Pohangina Valley. The course was twelve miles from the I'almerston course. The meeting was a wellconducted one, and popular in every way. Why, then, should they be parsed out and rolmerstou remain with five days? Tho same conditions as at Napier and Hastings applied at I'almerston-and Ashhurst. The distance between the two courses and tho number of population catered for were about the same, and yet Hastings only lost one day. It was not fair. "Confound the unblushing impudence of the Commission," said Mr. M'Carthy. The t,otal amount paid in slakes for eight years had been .£9333, the totalisator investments being JESU.OCIO, and the. Government (ax thereon had been .£1422.

Mr. S. Evans said they were under an obligation to owners regarding their Ashhurst Guineas event, and they might bo legally held responsible. A sum of .£3600 had been spent on buildings on tho course, and "they had tho undivided support of old racing men in -Vew Zealand, with perhaps the exception of the "big" men. Seeing they catered for such a large piece of country as tho Fohanghia, ho thought they should have consideration. Mr. A. W. Trask, secretary to the club, said that the stakes paid (,£1155) last year were .£3BO in excess of any one-day meeting club in the Dominion. It was worthy of mention that of 81 totalisator clubs in the Dominion only sis had paid stakes than Ashhurst over an average per

day. The Minister said it was being considered now whether the law was being complied with in respect to fair treatment to country clubs. But'there was also the clause in the Act which said the Minister must give effect to the report, of the Commission for one' year if it complied with, the law. He Tocognised the. strong argument regarding tho liability they were under as far as tho classic race was concerned. But he also recognised tint all' recommendations whatsoever the Commissioners made would be open to criticism.

Mi-. "Giithrie alluded to Section 4, Subfection IS, of the Act, and pointed out that clubs having only one-day meeting a year should have consideration shown them. He was sure the Minister had sufficient, backbone to judge whether tVio right thing had been done and to act accordingly.