Racing in Hawke's Bay

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 30, 19 February 1937, Page 7

Racing in Hawke's Bay

"FtlBLONG "

(To tbe Editor.) Sir, — On January 9 there waa publisbed, througb your cpqrtesy, 4 letter writtpn by ino wbiqb 4rew attentioq to tne decline oi tke Hawite's Bay Jockey Club. Tbe criticism was based on my observatigos of tbe two-day meetmg of January 1 and 2. Tbe maui point^ tQ wbicb I referjred yrexe th§ inediocrity of tbe fields in number and quality, smai tness of stakes, totalisalor tumover aud gqneral arrangeinents, In regard to stakes, tbe size of tbese is an inoication in any professiuual qport of tbe quality of tbe enteitamxnent, it was aiso pointed out tbat tbe dbs» trict bas mne racing days annually of v/bicb it makes poor use wben com1 pared witb less privileged clubs. Taka ! ivlanawatu and Stratford, naitner enjoy. Lng uietropoiitan status. btratford, witb two aaya, can put tbrnugb more in oue of tbese tban Hawkq's Bay w two. My attention bas now beep drawn to a reply to my ietter under tbe nom-de-plume f Still ilopef ul, ' ' dated January 11. At tbe outset. I must say tbat the suggestion made by your correspondont by means of rather cbildisb niarks of interrogation tbat 1 am not a Palmerston Lorth rqsident is quite uufair aud unfounded, He is at liberty to ascertain from you tbat 1 am resident in Palmerscton Nortb and tbat I bave no interests in Hawke's Bay otber tban those of tbe casual visitor. To deal witb tbe reply in order of tlie poinfs ravsed, I appreciate tbat the present commi'ttee is not to blame for tbe £30,000 indebtedness incnned in 1913, but to draw attention to wbat in the. ligbt o'f after events may seem a mistake is more tbe habit of political apologists tban sportsmen. Tbere bas been great prosperity in Hawke 's Bay. as in otber parts oi New Zealandi between 1913 and tbe recent depression, As a wool-growing centre the Bay prolited eonsiderably after 1913, no headway made by tbe club in debt reduction tben? Admittedly tbe eartbquake atxected spending power in Hawke's Bay, but £U3 loss was coniined Rlraost wholly to tbe town are&s and tQ tbose wbo oceupied and ownod (or were interested in by investment) business prexnisos. The inComes of tbe farmers away from tbe town were on tbe wbole unalfooted, exccpt by tbe depression, and witb tbo preseul boom in wool and tbe safegUard of a maternal Government ready to tuck failing farmers into a proteetive kangaroo poucb, in tbe backgronnd, this iarge section of tbe Hawke 's Bay public— whicb fe.cda tbe towns— i« in as strong a spending poeition as ever it was. It was not a spirit of dwellmg on tbe "man-made errgrs of tbe pnst or oatnral disasters wbicb cbaraeterised ihe outlook of tbe Bay people in their rebabilitation eft'orts of 1931 and after. Iq.ltead they looked to tbe future— witb conlidence. Tbis conbdence tbe Hawke's Bay Jockey Club (and ' ' Still Hopeful''' wbo apparently refluct? its vjews) needie in. tbe conduct ox its aft'airs or tbe present state of prosperity will bav.e passed whiie it (and he) is still theorising on tbe effect of the work Of tbe 1913 cominittee and tbe 1931- eartbquake on the fortune's of racing in tbe Bay in tbe past two g®nerationQ and in tbe time of generationa yet unborn. Was tbe £30,000 suc| a buiden to pQSterity as "Still HQpefvd ' ' suggestsl Take tbe Wellington Jtacing Club's position a few years back. It tben faced alternatives as serious as tboso confronting tbe Hawke's Bay Club after tbe earthquake, It bad an indebtedness on stands as large per bead of tbe population of tbe great area it serves as tbat of tbe Hawke s Bay Club. It did not dwell in tbe past and oxcuse its impotence to tbink p?ogressivelj by blaming tbe past. Instead it went forward figbtrng- Tbe meetings were made more attractive, avery effort made, and guccessruUy , to get tbe puolic on tbe course, wbich is jot in the centre of tbe eity but mpre. tban 20 miles out. Tbe result to-day is a reduction in tbe great Qverbead debt and tbe installatiou of a £30,000 totabsator, paid for. ■ . . Criticising my cbajnpionsbip oi inereased stakes "Still Hopeful cries despairingly. from bis slougb of despond tbat this progressive move would bankrupt tbe club. Many clubs bave 1 m tbe past year or more rrnked bankruptey in tbo aame way. Better stakes mean better borses — at the least, more borses — and increaaed betting. Disappointing as it was when compared witb tbe gains of othet clubs Hawke's Bay did inerease its totaUsator tur&over hy £5700. If tbis can be done witb imprudent prudence" wbat could bave bden done witb a dasb of boldness w fvaming tbe prograromo? He aiso cites , tbat witb much larger stakes at Tauherenikau than at Hastings at. Kew Year, Hastings had ' ' more starters , . . so tbat to give more prize mouey tban tbe Hawke's Bay Jockey Club could afl'ord would tbus do no good wbatsoever." It is not wbat tbe club can alford, but wbat tbe publie can, for as is eommoa knowledge after a certam deduction for expenses and State tax tbe totalisator proftts must go back into stakes, Tbe public tbis New Year, witb only a mediocre appeal made to tbem,. invested £5700 more tban last year. It is aiso incorreet to state tuat tbere were more starters at Hastings tban at Tauherenikau. To start with eacb was a two-oay meeting. Tbere were seven races eacu day at Hastings; eight eacb at Tau- • perenikau. On January 1 tbere wero . i 63 starters at Tauherenikau; at Hast- ' iiigs 49. On January 2 it was 0Q at Tauherenikau and 48 at Hastings. A eheck of any newspaper will confirm ihis. Tbe Hawke's Bay Club put througb £10,491 on tbe first day, inerease £1683. At Tauherenikau tbe rise was £5982 (more tban fot both iays at Hastings) to £22,443. For the meetings (two days), Hawke's Bay re* corded £23,217 (less tban tbe first day's (igure at Tauherenikau), a £5700 lu' crease. Tauhei enikau's figufes wero £43,953, a gain of £14,085. A Wellington city newspaper said of tbe Taubercnikau nveeting, ''Tbe Wairarapa Bacmg Club is participating in tbe booin racing is experiencing just now." Hoes l Hawke's Bay wish to ,be left 111 spleu- ; did isolation during this boom? • Com])arigous are. odlous, as will now j be soen in placing tbe country club, | Ashburst-Poliangina uitli it* oats-dfcy i A-nniversary Day meeting, lt put £13;869 througb its totalisator, an inerease of £4804, pr almOst t]ie aniomit Hawke's Bay imprpved in two days. j It gave £1010 in stakes for tbis oue I day; Hawko's Bay gavo a tolal for

two days - of £1230. Ashhurst bad no race under £100 and bad fhree in eight over tbat figure— £120, £170, £220 Hawke's Bay'e best was £120, ne.vt £110, two at £100, the rest eacb of £80. Of tbe Ashhurst meeting a Wellington city newspaper commented^ "Tms club proved tnat evpn a small organisation can attraet lieids and m turn tbe betting public if tbe stakes given are sufbciently bigb to warrant Ihe attention of owners." Qf tbe complaint tbat outside qwners do not support Hawke's Bay, not inany can alford, to race just for tne sport of it tbese days. Tbey like a fair chance of breaking ev4n on tbe expense incurred and must place borses wbCre tbe oest remuneratnm lies. True enough, auwbera of Hawke's Bay borses cqwpete at' outside meetings, but it is absurd to suggest tbat tbey ate travelled ior tbe saxQ of sport alone, belping sister ciubs aud darnu tbe expense, Oue mading Hawke's Bay owner, fpr instance, bas bis borses trained well outside tbe Bay, and at New was racing at Auckland. If it were wortbwbile no doubt be would race at bome and sbow tbe public some first-Clabs sport. "Still Hopeful" complains of lack of support for both Napier Park and Hawke 'a Bay Clubs from outside racing men, " barring evergreen Poverty Bay sportsmen," Well, it is refresbmg to hear a Hawke's Bay fuember mention sympatbetically aud in tbe same breatb tbe Napier Park Club, Qutsiders wonder why tbe two elubs do not get togetber to revive tbe racing fortunea and prestige of Hawke's Bay. As for Poverty Bay, tbe cowpLetion of the East Coast railway, wbich means easier transport for borses to oUtsida centres, may see tbe Pdverty Bay sportsmen not so ever-green and send* ing tbeir borses where tbe money ie olfering. "8tiU Hopeful" concludeei that be bas beard comment similar to mibe from a particular quarter in bis discrict and at about the same time as I wxote my flrsl ' letter. 1 aisi not surprised, except perbapa that it was from oue quarter only, as I discuseed the subjeet With many folk at tho New Year meoting. He says it "may be a fca3© of two great minds tbinking alike," Tbe adage is so worn and backbeyed as t" be n.eaningloss, ako discourteoua, but it is cause for "still hopefulness" tbat at least oue mind dwells not fn tbe mistakes and tragedies of tbe past but in tbe l'uture tbat is so i'ul) of promiso and prosperity for tbo^e witb tbe coufage to :reach out witb conlidence,'Yourf. etc.,

"Palmerston Nortb, Feb. 37.