THE TOTALISATOR IN NEW ZEALAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 25 August 1909, Page 54

THE TOTALISATOR IN NEW ZEALAND.

In view of the stand taken, by our legislators against the totalisator, the figures furnished afc the (recent N«w Zealand R&cdngr Con.f«r.en©e are decidedly interesting. They show &« influence the machine has ecu prize-money, and demos£tra.te that by its use race clubs can) afford to bo much more liberal than when their only, (revenue from betting privilege* is per medium of bookmakers' fee*. Outejdt of

Sydney and Newcastle prizes of over £100 [ «.re comparatively few in .this State, which, ■ by the way, has a population of at least ,600,000 more than New Zealand. Leaving out trotting, and confining myself entirely to the racing clnbe, I find (says "Pilot," of the Sydney Referee) that 81 used the totalisator, a.yd that for 11 days the Canterbury J.C (Christchurch) averaged £2255 per day; Auckland R.t!., 13 day*, £1945; Wellington. 8.C., 10 days, £l«2; Fefldin* J.C, foar days, £1465; Manawatu Jtx.V., five days, £1618; Wacgajini J.C, «ix days, *£123&; Hawke's Bay J.C, «i«ht days, £1048; and the Ashiurst-Pohangiiia R.C. gave £1405 for one <lay. In addition to the above, seven clubs averaged from £946 down to £800 per day, ana six of these raced from four to nine days a year. Six clubs averaged between £700 and £800, four between £600 And' £700, 10 between £500 and £600, and nine between £400 and £500; while in only one instance did a club go below £200, . the amount distributed being £190. From the above it will be seen that no less than 44 New Zealand clubs averaged over £400 per day in priae-money during the season just closed, w.hile^the daya they - raced totalled 179: The .prize-money for the, whole of the 242 days utilised by totalisator clubs came to aDout £198,000. ' Thi« by no m«me ootbi* -fciws TwiioW of -tt& racing ia New Zealand, either, as many , jjon-totalisaior dubs held meeting's duringthe" season,. ~&nd~ tlie trotting dubs, distributed £35,628 in prize-money. The' fignree for l&e recent "season' ia New South Wales are not yet to hand, but whein they are it will be found that very few clubs outside Sydney and Newcastle averaged even £200 a. day. Such was the case in 1907-8, when the priae-money for 754 days* .registered racing only came to £120,067, of which amount the Australian Jockey Chib was responsible for "£36,850 and tin other Sydney chibs for £23,535. For owners who are not keen on betting the figures given above point to New Zealand beinig much hefler than any Australian State. THE CUP THREE- YEAR-OLDS. Taskmaster, who has yet to win a race, is, on the handicap, the best three-year-old in *he New Zealand Cup. The colt is closely related to Quarryman and a halfbrofher to Glenculloch. Taskmaster waß only beat a neck by Flitaway in the Challenge Stakes in rZB 4-5, and had behind bin Provocation (allowing 151b), Nautifohri (allowing 113b), and others. Taskmaster was subsequently beaten out of a place in the North Island Challenge Stakes woa by Provocation, who gave- away a stone to Sir George Clifford's colt. Taskmaster is conceding lib to Merriwa (bay colt by Merriwee from Lady Helen, by St. Leger from. Ouida, the dam of Artillery, Strathraore, and Hilda, and grand-dam of Fufinor' and Mahutonga), who won twice as a fcwo-yearrold out of 10 starts. A* the Auckland Cup meeting Merriwa won the Midsummer. Handicap, five furlongs, in 1.1 3.1>, and die Sylvia Handicap, six furlongs, in' 1.17 3-5. At the 'Wellington. Cup meeting Merriwa ran third to" ." Theodore and Broadsword .in the, Wellington Stakes, and subsequenily -started twice at Napier in races woa by Glissade, a stable companion. He finished up the season by the - unplaced performance at the A.R.C. autumn meeting. Bourbon, an Australian-bred son of Louis Km, is next on the list, and he has yet to make his debut under silk. His sire was got by St. Simon from the Hermit mare Eglantine, and his dame Felucca is an imported mare got by Hazel hatch from 1 Galleon, by Sterling. Boanerges is a threo-yearaeld half-brother by Pilgrim's Progress to the speedy Nyland, who won in such a convincing manner at the National meeting. He was seen out in eight racea last year, and scored twice. With 7.3 he beat Kilwinning 9.2 in the Nursei Handicap at lanaw^ru iv 1.2 4-5, and later, at Panuevirke, beat 15 others over four furlongs in 49. At the Hawke's Bay autumn meeting Xylophone gave him 81b and beat him into third place in the Nursery Handicap, the pair being split by Golden^ Water. Boanerges wound up the season "by being unplaced in the Hawke's Bay- Stakes won by Provocation. Mr Highden is also represented by another three-year-old in Polymorphous, a son of Multiform and Rumour, and consequently bred on similar lines to Noctuiform, as both their dams are Eiridspord mares. Bridge, a three-year-old gelding by The Poasible from Scotia, is a brother to Grand Slam. He ran in six races last year, and scored in the Maiden Hack Race at the Hawke's Bay autumn meeting. Cymbiform did not come on at the Deck end of the season in the manner suggested by his /form earlier in the 'season. He commenced racing ia the 'Welcome Stakes, started in 13 racer^ *sf which ho won three, and. wound up by running unplaced at the C.J.C. autumn meeting. Cymbiform won a double" at the D.iT.C. summer meeting, and also won the Railway Plate at the Dunedin Cup meeting. Cymbiform is a beautifully-bred colt, and may show improvement, during his three-year-old season. He wste got by Multiform from Saucer, by Sorcerer from Angola, by Macbeath from Angelica, a sister to St. Simon. A brace of three-year-olds nominated by the Hon. J. D. Ormond come next, and these are Fiddler and Idealism. Fiddler is a son of Birkenhead and Guitar, by Dreadnought from Lyre, the English-bred half-sister to Gorton. Fiddler made a successful debut by winning a Trial Hack Race at Napier Park, and was not pliced in his only other race. Idealism is a three-year-old gelding by Birkenbead from Ideal, who deadheated in the New Zealand Cup with Fulmen, and whose best performance reads a third in A.R.C. Sylvia Handicap to Merriwa and Sharpshooter. St. Felix scored an unimportant win at j Tiraaru after being beaten the pre- j vious day by Boutade, who gave away 181b. St. Felix showed promise on the track in the spring of the year, but had to be put by through contracting influenza. He is out of a Maxim mare, and there may be 'a good St. Simou— Musket nick in his pedigree- Boutade ran 14 times as a two'^yeaf-bld,' and .scored in four races. She is a -half -sister to Outlander, .whose grahd-dam is a daughter of Carbine: CKauvelhg js a son of Soult from Inamorata, by Torpedo from Lady's Maid, by MuteMaid of All Work, by Malton from Revoke, the dara of two old timers in Dunboon ■mud Tramp -Cai-d. • Cbattvelin ran foujr times without getting a place. The , last- -three-year-old on the list is another j nomination of the Hon. J. D. Orroond's. j •This ifl Elfish, a three-year-old gelding by Birkenhead from Elflock, by Nordenfeldt from Elfin, by Musket— Sylvia, the dam of Martini Henri. Elfish ran once last year, j and failed to gain a place.. I

THE GOEE RACING OLUB. A pleasing state of affaire was revealed at the aarmiad meeting of the Gore Racing Club, when tie President (Mr T. Green) stated that there was a profit of £897 over last season's operations, as against £80S made over th® previous year, and this deBpite that the prize-money bad been increased by 4(XJeovs- This is probably the bast season the club has ever experienced, and as it occurred in conjunction with, and, possibly, as & direct result of a substantial increase of prize-money, the wisdom of being treasonably extravagant should be borne in mind when the committee are drawdng up the programmes of the future. Until this last season or two the G.R.O. were inclined to etand still in the way of prize-money, but it seems perfectly safe to predict that the club will be found mere .progressive in the- future. Last season the principal events decided at th<? G.R.C. meetings were the -Spring Handicap, of dOsovs ; Wa.ika.ka Handicap, of 80sovs; Gore Oup, of HOeovs; And G.R.C. Handicap, of lOOsovs. Thes& ar e stakes worth winding, but as far baok as 1893 the ■ Gore Cup carried a lOOsovs stake, and vh-e J3-.R.C. Handicap one of 75sovb. This was the yeef tfctt Tempest-won the double, «nd later captuned*%he Dunedin Cap. Si*iee then the Gore Oap has fluctuated in "value, and dropped as low as - 50eovs in 1897. It did not regain ite lOOsovs -status until^ last year, and ona reason for this is dvus to the fact that the ohxb was laying itself out to increase the value of the minor events on their programmes. In 1897 the total .value of the prize list amounted to £427 10s at the Gore Cup meeting, and last year the same gathering dispersed- 900sovs in stakes. The writer has only misced one Gore .meeting during the post -eight or nine seasons, and no reference to the club's progress would be complete without referring to the bad weather which was usually indentified with them. This no doubt materially hampered financial progress, but latterly a more propitious state of affairs has been on band, and probably the .attendances at last season's meetings were fabte best thai fca-s ever mastered on the course. Since last season the club has improved their track by widening 't at some of the starting posts, and the improvements should further popularise the G.R.C. meetings with horse-owners. HANDICAPPING IN ENGLAND. At a meeting of the English Jockey Club last month th© proposal that no ■weight should be allotted a horse in a handicap until it had run three times- in the United Kingdom was duly carried, and judging by the remarks made by Lord Durham, I should say (says a writer in an exchange) the difficulty experienced by the han-dicap-pers *in gauging the form of horses was maimy responsible for the new rule. Lord Durham's remarks on the subject of handicapping were lengthy, anil among other -things he said that handicap- . per* should consider a horse's best form rather than its worst* and should consequently be careful when it came to droping a horse's weight for a. bad run or , two. Furthenmore, he inferred that the American horses had got th© handicapper* in 1 such- a tangle that the latter, in weighting them, "were merely indulging in guesswork. He thought^ the new rule would be better for handicappers, as then they would not be called upqji to weight horses without seeing them, the same time, he recognised that it would still be impossible for handicappers to avoid being victimised by unscrupulous owners. In view of hamdicapping by a committee being favoured by some Australian owners, Sir Ernest Paget's remarks at the meeting make interesting reading. He said there was a very strong feelin-g amongst a great number of people who went racing in J£nglarod that the system of hamdicapping by committee had not been the success anticipated and hoped. His objection to handicapping by committee was that it took away the individual responsibility of the handicapper, and that carelessness or indilier enoe was the outcome. The object of all was to avoft^ the stereotyping of handicaps, as well as .handicaps going to too few horses or too few owners. It was thought that handicaps would be less stereotyped under the committee system, but there it had been absolutely unsuccessful. He had had a very long experience, and he had never known handicaps co thoroughly stereotyped as they were at th© present time. He dtd not wi6h to lessen the number of handicappers, but instead of Messrs Dawkins, Lee, and .Eeyser handicapping as a committee, he would prefer that one of thosa geniteiinen should handicap on a certain day or a certain week. Better work would result, as each man would show his individuality. Later he qualified bib remarks by saying tl»at m large handicaps like the Oesarcwiteh and Cambridgeshire it would no* very -valuable to have the handJcappars' committee, so that no glaring mistake might be made in allotting a weight to any particular horse, as sometimes had been the case. For my own part t I have no faith ill a triumvirate of handicappers7 for the position in the long run is generally that of the strongest man adjusting the figures, and the other two assenting. As Sir Ernest Paget remarked, indifference then creeps in, and faulty work is the result. Another thing is that with handicappers working individually, an owner harshly treated by one has a chance of better treatment from another; whereas, with the same committee doing all the handicapping, the only way out of "the difficulty for tbe owner of an over- rated horse would be to cell. No handicapper is, or can be expected to be, perfect ; but, despite occasional slips, more can be said in favour of tho one-man than the committee sjstem of weight-adjusting. j THE TURF RECORD. • The New Zealand Turf Record is a book without which r.o sportsman's house is complete. The memory, however gco<l, ia at times faulty, an<l if one has not the means of verifying past form it naturally follows" that most erroneous ideas may be formed about a horse's running. In the Record ia' found the details of each horse which rooed at all totalisator meetings, and, in addition, i« .given the performttfioas ot horses racing under zhe trotting rules, ' the various tables of our principal events the rules of racing, nominations for forthcoming events, sales of blood stock, aa*d other information of mf-erest. — Clarence O'Neill, of tbe pronounced perch seat, is getting a, lengthy string of horses together at Palmerston North, and j will probably have four from his stable [ racing »t Mar ton next month.