SPORTING.

Shannon News, 20 December 1921, Page 3

SPORTING.

The Trenton mare Wakeful, which holds a place with the most illustrious equines that have figured on the Australian turf, made’ ? a further contribution to the Stud Book this year in the shape of a filly by Roseworthy. Tbe sire of Wakeful’s youngster ranks as the .happy results following the mating of the Musket and St, Simon families. Wakeful’s last foal may be something out of the common. A remarkable incident of last season’s racing in England (says an exchange), and one that must be regarded as sensationally disappointing, is that' The Tetrarch (which stands at* a fee of 500 gs) did not claim a single two-year-old winner. Two of The Tetrarch’s progeny sold last year brought no less than 24,100g5, 14,000 gs being paid for a colt out of Blue Bit, and 9600 gs tor a colt out of Honora. Mr Percy Mason, in charge of Mr Greenwood’s horses, which have been in training at Feiiding since the local meeting, left by the mail train on Saturday for Auckland, it- is worthy . of mention that Gloaming’s last ranter on the Feiiding racecourse took place on Friday morning, when the champion ran six furlongs outside tne trestles in 1.15! Something to make the Ellerslie crowd look forward for. 1 Pluto has not done too well lately, and will probably be let down lightly during the racing at Ellerslie. It will surely he a bit of a “pill” that will take a lot of swallowing for early punters to find that Egotism will not be a starter for the Auckland thousands. As demonstrating the extent to which the new racing tax will hit the Auckland racing clubs, the following article clipped from the Auckland Star makes interesting reading: The effect of the proposed increased taxes bn racing dividends, stakes, and gates will he to increase the contribution by the racing public and clubs to the revenue by 233 per cent, Last year the Auckland Racing Club, apart from the taxes on stakes, dividends, and gatemoney, paid £13,000 in income tax. From ihe dividends dispensed at the A.R.C. meetings iast year the Government claimed a share aggregating £25,796, while the winners of stakes paid £614 in taxes, and the patrons of the, sport contributed a further £1661 through ihe surtax on admission tickets. These three sources of State revenue, which are quite independent of the Government’s 10 per cent, share of all inony put through the totalisator, last year enabled the Government to get £28,073 from the patrons of the Auckland Club alone. The effects off the proposed increases m dividends duty, stakes tax, and amusements tax will swell the Governlhent’s return to £65,021, an increase of £36,948. With Avondale and Takapuna Racing Clubs and the Auckland and Otahuhu Trotting Clubs, ail operating over the same area, the effect of the increase would probably mean tfyat horse-owners and racegoers of the city wifi be called on to contribute an extra £110,000"ta the revenue each year. Taking the figures for last year as a basis for the volume of, betting, the effect of the proposed increases on the A.R.C.’s contributions (through tne racing public) to the Exchequer may be set out as follows: Dividends duty, 1920- £25,796, 1921-22 £51,593; stakes tax, £614, £7310; amusements tax, £1661, £6llß. Total, 1920-21 £28,073, 1921- £65,021. increase 1921-22, £36,948.