Country Race Meetings

Feilding Star, Volume VII, Issue 65, 10 November 1885, Page 3

Country Race Meetings

The Wellington -Post' thus discourses : — Buafaess people* of all grades complain trratlv of the frequeat " meetings" which diitugbaljL ordinary avocations, and distractanid disorder the.minds of workmen and emplo>e«. Instead »f. Visitors from the dourila^ H 6h sport or pleasure bent, the only class attracted by these con »t ant' meetings is the very undesirable ©ne compoß«£<>f. jfcte men who mikela living in ■omfr.maaner or other ont of the credulity •f Upsir less fellow jnieij.in tninfi connected in horse-racing.^; ln the towns the "off"' race meetings so un bappilly freqiient^; are nqw viewed with fsncral d^fMtor by almost "erery sUildjrf oidg citiwrf^ and Sn all sides may be heard •rpressioni" «f opinion that racing it being altogether" overdone. As to th« oounfry meetings, the> too •areiPcVeßsing in nambcuc and frequency, while their charae&r has altogether bhanged and detonated. They are no longer g«t up for the sake of sport, or always -conducted fairhj and honestly, but are in many instances simply opportunities afforded for flagrant swindling, which dare not be attempted on a regular course under the manigement oof people acquainted with racing matters. The bockmoker* /hare taken ,to .frequenting these small meetings more or less, and tboy find a .harvest in doing so. It is not difficult to ascertain the reason wh> race meeting« of all kinds have re «ently so!' increased in number whilo <l#creasiag in 'all legitimate ottractfony. The' totißiaUir has completely, changed the whole aspect of raciag in this colony. Its effect «6 far bin* been to put the large and properly constituted raring clubs wtll en their legs financially, and enable tvally good stakes to c offered at the large meetings and many improvements effected on the coarsen. The totnlisator however.*like every thine -else, can be abased, and it is being abused most sadly ¥jr this number of " off" mep tings which artf^ot up alt over the country siniplv for th*;p«rpOM-of ranking money by it. The Post thinks that ultimately the total-' isator will have to be abolished.