TROTTING CROWDS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20077, 25 October 1939, Page 12

TROTTING CROWDS

BIGGEST FOR YEARS BETTING FIGURES SOAR HOLIDAY SPIRIT AT EPSOM After a succession of rainy days for trotting at the Labour Day week-end, Aucklanders showed their full appreciation of the sport when warm, sunny weather was experienced for the Auckland Trotting Club’s meeting at Epsom on Monday. A crowd of 16,000 passed through the turnstiles, and the totalisator showed a care-free holiday spirit among those in attendance, for betting figures soared beyond those recorded for a number of years. From the first race the totalisator began to show a marked improvement. It was necessary to hold the machine open for a considerable period after the scheduled closing time to cater for the public, ’and by the close of the day £54,088 10s had been handled, compared with £35,055 10s last year, an increase of £19,033. For the two days the total was £100,973, as against £'68,352 last year, an increase of £32,621. Well-backed horses ran into most of the money throughout the day. so that big dividends were rare. Double figures were paid in only two events. The racing was keen and generally exciting, marred only by,a protest in the second, to last race, which delayed the payment of one dividend. In com sequence hundreds of investors were lined up at the totalisator long after the betting on the last race had been dealt with.

The protest involved the horse which was placed second and that which ran fourth. The stewards held a protracted inquiry into the matter, and the dividend which was eventually paid out was that first announced when the judge’s numbers were hoisted.