Turf Notes

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 76, 21 June 1927, Page 6

Turf Notes

/DOING GOOD WORK

LIVE ASSOCIATION EXTRAVAGANT REMITS MUZZLING HANDICAPPERS There is not a more wideawake organisation in the Southern Hemisphere, as far as trotting interests are concerned. than the Canterbury Owners and Breeders’ Association. Since its formation, the Southern body has proved a real live and useful combination, and many an owner has been greatly benefited by his association vvith the organisation. OVERSTEPPING THE MARK But in its laudable desire to foster and advance the sport generally, and its ambitious undertaking to make the : lot of owners iess rocky, the associaI tion is apt to overstep the limitations j£ its administrative usefulness, as i 3 -videnced by some of the remits which lave emanated from this source for .onsideration at the annual conference which takes place in the Empire City lext month. Two of these in parti:ular appear to be rather drastic and vvould give the impression that their presence is a blow at the. present system of handicapping. MAIDEN STATUS “That a horse be considered a maiden performer until he has won a race” is a remit that cannot expect to receive a great deal of sympathy from those who will form the 1927 Trotting Parliament. It is difficult to : see the reason of such a request, but if once adopted, it is obvious the result would prove disastrous to many a club. A number of horses improve their time by several seconds and only manage to get the minor portion of the purse, but if after such a performance, a horse who has performed so creditably was still treated to a maiden mark, there would not be many other competitors left in the race to try and down the liberally treated contestant. AUTOMATIC HANDICAPPING Another brain wave from the powerful Canterbury association is put forward in the following remit: “That no horse be handicapped slower than his winning performance.” At first sight this seems a reasonable request, and would make an adjuster’s job a fairly easy and stereotyped one. But it must be remembered there is a great difference in New Zealand tracks, and it is in defining between fast and slow courses that a handicapper has to show ability. DISCRETIONARY POWER Discretion is one of the main characteristics in the handicapping game, and its use or abuse is the solid test. Under the proposed scheme, there would be no need to exercise discretion, and in fact there would be no need for handicappers, as each arriving candidate would be automatically handicapping itself. While there may be flaws in the present system, they can be remedied, and there will be nothing to be gained by the adoption of the remit. Both remits bid fair to be smacked to windward when brought before the “house.”