WAIKOUAITI RACING CLUB

Evening Star, Issue 20057, 24 December 1928, Page 13

WAIKOUAITI RACING CLUB

OPENING NEW TOTALISATOR HOUSE No meeting in Otago has made such i-apld strides »n prosperity as the annual fixture of the Waikouairt Racing Club, and to accommodate the largelyincreased crowds that go out there on New Year’s Day the executive has spent about £2,000 in improving the appointmerits during the past few _ months. Yesterday afternoon the committee held a pleasant function in the ne\V totalisator house to formally take over from the contractors and open these buildings. Mr P. Toomey, the president of the club, was in the chair, and about thirty members and visitors were present. After an inspection of the buildings and course, which is in excellent condition for . racing on, a short toast list was honoured.

After the loyal toast, in proposing which ■ the Chairman expressed the hope that the King’s health would ■bo fully restored before New Year’s Day, Mr Toomey proposed the toast of “The Visitors.” In doing so he explained that the function they were taking part in was to take over the buildings. During the past seven months twelve men had been kept employed in the work, and he was proud to be able to state that they were all local men. The now totalisatov house, which was larger than the one at For bury Park, had been estimated by the architect to cost £1,300, but thanks to the economy or the builder, Mr R. Templeton, the cost to date had only been £703. Raising the stewards’ stand and the ground surrounding it had meant the removal ol s,oooyds of spoil, which had cost about £500; and at the same time had greatly improved the view of the racing in the straight. The new luncheon room had cost £279, and the fittings and furnishings would cost another £SO. lie realised there was still much to do, and the immediate improvements to be put in hand after the next meeting included new lavatories, accommodation for jockeys, and a kitchen for the caterer. At timeS* ! the executive had received advice from visitors as to what should* bo done. The club was now the premier one-day club in .the South Island, but ho could look back thirty-four years when it had a struggle to exist. In 1894 the total stakes amounted to £l7O, and the racing was on a fivc-furlong course. Now the club gave £I,BOO in stakes, including a cup, and the track, seventynine chains in circumference, was one of the safest courses in the country, with its well-graded turns. He could trace the beginning of the club’s present prosperity to the year when the Dunedin Jockey Chib lent its fine Wingatui course. £9,000 went through the totalisator at that meeting, and ever since then the investments had been gradually increasing.

The toast of the “ Waikouaiti Racing Club ” was proposed by B. S. Irwin, who apologised for Mr A. C. Hanlon, president of the Dunedin Jockey Club, who was unable to attend. The speaker said he arrived in Waikouaiti fifty-one years ago, and attended the races 'the next year. As he was still in his mother’s arms ho did not have a vivid recollection of the details of that day’s racing, but he had recently read an account of the 1831 meeting when the cup was worth only £25. A mare belonging to his father won the Gup that day, which was run over two miles, and also two one mile races later in the afternoon. She had to run four miles for less than £4O in stakes. He hoped to be a successful owner at their forthcoming meeting. Ho congratulated the club on its enterprise in carrying out such a comprehensive scheme of improvements, and considered they now compared well with the appointments on any non-metropolitan course in the island. He reminded the executive that there was something else besides building required to make a club successful. The personnel of the executive counted for, much, and the Waikouaiti Club was fortunate in its selection, and its meetings were noted for good management and the hospitality always extended, to members. He trusted that the Waikouaiti Racing Club would be the first to experience the wave of prosperity that he felt sure was now going to follow the years of financial depression that racing.clubs had been passing through. Messrs P. Toomey and P. Heckler suitably responded. Other toasts honoured were “ Neighbouring Clubs,” proposed by Mr A. W. Douglas and acknowledged by Mr B. S. Irwin; ‘‘Mr W. F. James and his Staff,” by Mr R. Templeton and acknowledged by Messrs W. F. James and Geo. Wilhelmsen; “Owners,” proposed by Mr D. M'Gregor and acknowledged by Mr Irwin and Dr Gribbon; and “The Chairman,” proposed by Mr W. F. James and responded to by Mr Toomey.