SPORTING

Levin Daily Chronicle, 26 July 1919, Page 1

SPORTING

"We •can't Jet our boys abandon school tos become jockeys," remarked Mr J. W. Poyntoii, .S..Mat tho Now Plymowth Court recently. Tl'io occasion was the. hearing of a dhargv against Ki'nest CJeorgo who! being tile parent of a cliild of school age, failed to 'have li'.ni enrolled on any school register. The truant officer stated that itlhe hoy, who was 12} years old, had not been to school this year and tibe father had already been fined ton times. Be made the plea of shortage of labour as tibe excuse for keeping his Iboy away from school. "What labour ?" asked the magistrate, and when told the hoy was being trained as a jockey in his father's stables, Mr Poynton said that fiorfc of thing could not he allowed, as it was only "fooling" with the law. '•There >are too -many jockeys already,''' lie remarked. A fine of. £2 and 7fonsts was imjmsed.

Tho Pox ton Racing Club if? at present undertaking a scheme of improvements a« the eour«\ a number of ithe buildings being shifted back on til tho land recently purchased from the Foxton Borqugh Council to mnlce room for the p:iblio. The outer (booth and publican's booth have been shifted, n.nd the totnlisator house has been extended by 30ft., and provision made for about 10 new receiving windows, aiid also for additional piay-o'n.fc windows The straight has been ploughed up and resown, and tlhe sand .gallop top-dress-ed. It is probable that otlhier improvements will be made in the near future.