CHEAPER BETTING

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 32, 7 February 1931, Page 9

CHEAPER BETTING

TARANAKrS INITIATIVE

PUBLIC DEMAND BEING MET

The decision of the committee of the Taranaki Jockey Club to install a fiveshilling totalisator on the outside lawn for its Autumn Meeting next week, may be regarded as.a.sign .v£ the times, and an effort to increase ihe popularity of the gathering, says the New . Plymouth writer "Moturoa." The innovation is assured of favour with the majority of small bettors; and it may be hoped that the reduced betting figure will induce speculation to the extent of materially increasing the grand total of investments over the meeting, while the club should benefit in more ways than the "financial barometer" will indicate. In the past some clubs have regarded the totalisator as their only really worthwhile source of revenue; but the increase in betting taxation has hit the; machine so badly that profits have fallen away to as much as SO per cent. It .may be that the increased tax is affecting the betting and frightening patrons away from the courses, but most of the controlling bodies of racing have been apt to view the position with undue apprehension in the past six months instead of trying to find means of making their meetings more attractive. The Takapuna Jockey Club has been a notable exception. It is evident that the Takapuna Club has achieved success, and so great was the patronage of the five-shilling windows at its Summer Meeting last week that

, these investments accounted ■ for 25; per cent, of the total turnover. The number of 5s tickets gold at' the meeting reached the.high figure of .73,318;;; The total investments for the meeting' amounted to £72,----612, compared -with £87,764 last year, a decrease of £15,152, or 17.3 per cent. At the Spring Meeting on 29th November and Ist December, the totalisator handled * £62,103 10s, compared with £75,522 10s* in the preceding year, a decrease, of £13,419, or 17.7 per cent. Compared with other clubs,' the decrease over the meeting is small, and the club will be able to show a good profit. Apart from its novelty, the innovation to be tried by the Taranaki Jockey Club will be the means of bringing more people to its meetjng and, viewed from this angle, the: decision becomes even more attractive. Cheaper betting facilities - are becoming more and more necessary'to rac-ing-enthusiasts, and there is no doubt that times have done much to increase illegal betting, which caters for the investments of silver bettors as well as those of the big: men. Not >in a small way, will this move assist the crusade against' illegal starting price betting, and it will be appreciated by keen followers of the sport. The result.of the Scheme will be watched with considerable interest, but it is most unlikely that the Taranaki Jockey Club will have cause to regret its decision.