THERE'S ROOM FOR COMPLAINT

NZ Truth, Issue 1144, 3 November 1927, Page 11

THERE'S ROOM FOR COMPLAINT

Poor Accommodation For Holiday Crowds

(From 'N.Z. Truth's" Special Auckland Representative.)

That the Labor date m the Waikato was worth wrangling over was clearly instanced by the respective attendances and totalisator registers at Te Rapa and Cambridge recently.

FOR the two-day fixture at Te Rapa, held on the preceding Friday and Saturday, the average turnover was just over £23,000 per day against upwards of £39,000 for Labor Day at Cambridge on the Monday. Beside this— which counts most from a club viewpoint— the "gates' on Labor Day must have returned a heap more money at Cambridge than on any single day at Te Rapa. The holiday crowd were at Cambridge, as they will be anywhere on Labor Day, but there was insufficient accommodation to move about m comfort and quite a number who experienced the same discomfort the previous year were noticeably absent. In very truth, the Waikato Hunt Club is up against attempting to cater for a holiday crowd at the Cambridge If it wishes to do the right thing to patrons, it will have to race on some other track where there is.no craning of necks on the out-of-date grandStand or jostling about near the totehouse and m the paddocks. I The racing publio heard quite a lot

about the improvements made pi-ior to the fixture, but m all seriousness the terraces provided did not satisfy half the patrons who wished to secure an uninterrupted view of the racing. Quite a number left Cambridge vowing they woud not return. The Hunt Club officials certainly did their best to treat evei*ybpdy right, but they are up against it m their attempt to provide for a holiday . race crowd on the present property. There is not the room available unless they are prepared to spend countless thousands on stand accommodation for both inside and outside patrons. Another matter that requires attention is improvement to the track, especially regarding more suitable banking round the turns. If the Cambridge people cannot provide better accommodation for the masses, the Waikato Hunt Club should do the right thing by handing over the Labor Day date to ( some club which can do better by ( way of allowing the crowd to enjoy its racing with at least some degree of comfort.