RACING AS NATIONAL PASTIME

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 84, 5 October 1940, Page 15

RACING AS NATIONAL PASTIME

ESSENTIAL RECREATION DURING WAR EFFORT

(By "Rangatira.")

As was the case during the 1914-18 wars it seems that the sports of racing and trotting are to.dour'ish while it is possible to maintain them during the present war. And there has been no event yet to indicate that racing and trotting may cease to be as the Empire's life-and-death struggle intensifies.

Racing has proved itself over and over the most valuable recreation in the land for an ■ important mass of the people'during times''of great stress. The sport- is only waiting a favourable moment to be resumed in England, and that moment will be- when the acute phase of the air battle is over. Whenever it has been possible during the past twelve months, racing has been held in England. The only lapses were a few weeks at the beginning of the war, when air raids were daily expected but did not come, and during the three months since the capitulation of France. And even now racing would have been resumed and the St. Leger run early last month but ior the waning air blitzkrieg. BRFJCTANNIQUE CHEERED. Meanwhile, it would appear that England and France are the only countries at present deprived of racing. Unoccupied France has too many other things to worry about, and occupied France is the.daily target of the Royal Air Force. Cables during the past fortnight have shown that racing is going on in Germany and Belgium—an outsider named Brittannique was cheered by the Belgians when'he won at a

meeting held near Brussels a few days ago—and there is no reason to believe that Italy has divested itself of racing, for it was only ; three months ago that the Fascist people were seizing their share of French, thorough-, bred stock on the collapse of the Republic. Egypt, Palestine, Spain, and even Japan, with the China war on her hands for three years, are other countries providing ample racing fare as a recreation for their people.

So New Zealanders, despite mounting taxes and transport difficulties, are showing in the most definite possible way that they want racing and trotting to be maintained. There are more and more calls on,all currency funds, but totalisators are handling more and more money at almost every meeting, the few occasional declines in investments being usually readily explained, as through bad weather or a change of date or venue. •

It is all good grist for the Treasury, too, which takes &375~ per cent, gross out of totalisator investments, meaning practically net, as the cost of collection is very small. So far this season, for instance, the Government's share has been £ 85,000-odd. The,increases this year are a little larger'in most cases than they would normally have been, because of the sharp check investments received for «a month or so last year immediately after the institution of the. petrol restrictions. However,"that period lasted only temporarily, and from now on totalisator investments will give a very true index of the actual trend. HOW FIGCKES COMPARE. The following table gives the turnovers at meetings held during August and September (Christchurch Hunt excepted, because it really belonged to last season), with the figures for the

With the restrictions on transport and the increasing all-in-ness of the. Dominion's war effort, executives of racing clubs had cause some months ago to view the prospects for the 1940-41. season with -an apprehension that was quite reasonable. However, attendances and turnovers were not only maintained during the winter session hut generally they showed a steady advance, and the trend towards larger attendances and turnovers has been accelerated during the first two months of the current season. In these two months totalisator investments for racing and trotting have shown an. increase of nearly £120,000 on last year's figures, or over 15 per cent.

previous two years included for purpose of comparison:— RACE MEETINGS. 1938. 1939. 1940. £ £ £ Canterbury ...... 171,716 176,219 193,244 Pakuranga- Hunt ~ 35,760 46,405 50,321 Otago Hunt ....... 17,453 15,547 22,144" Combined Hunte .-. 27,105 34,543 33,109 Wanganui 35,332 29,563 37,036 Ashburton 15,232 11,942 18,094 Marton 16,146 15,763 21,190 Avondale 62,910 86,710 107,110 Geraldine 23,681 19,271 27,897 Foxton 12,295 18,410 21,356 Ohinemuri ... 50,775 55,741' 61,430 Kurow ..., . . 3,983 8,081 13,561 Totals ....... 472,388 518,186 606,492 TROTTIXG MEETINGS. 1938. : 1939. ■ 1940. £ £ .£ Metropolitan 113,903 138,415 164,174 Auckland ....... 29,747 49,158 49,472 Xew Brigliton .... " 33,797 34,427 • 31,031 Wellington 29,050 28,925 37,477 Totals 206,497 250,925 282,154

The figures for trotting particularly would have been decidedly better even than they are if the New Brighton Meeting had not been postponed from, a < Saturday to a Thursday, whiph. must have cost the club round about £10,000 in its turnover.

Four years ago in 1936 racing clubs in the above table returned investments of £355,593 and trotting clubs of £164,173, which is a further indication of the steady upward, movement made by the totalisator in recent years. i There may be some people who feel that racing, or even any form of sport, is unpatriotic in critical times. But they are in a marked minority. The argujment of such people is, of course, that race meetings and most forms of our

national sporting pastimes involve the expenditure of time, petrol, and money, which they hold is undesirable when so many appeals are being made by 'the Government for economy and concentration on the war effort. However, it will be recognised by most reasonable people that recreation is more and more necessary as an offset for nervous tension as the strain of national endeavour increases, and those people, as well as the Government itself, must view with satisfaction the present rising trend in totalisator investments, as indicating that the spirit of the people is still keenly alive and so ready to face and withstand whatever dangers may lie ahead.