UNWIELDY FIELDS DEMAND ATTENTION

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

UNWIELDY FIELDS DEMAND ATTENTION

AUTHORITIES MUST TAKE ACTION IN NEAR FUTURE While followers of the light harness sport in the Auckland Province will appreciate to the fullest extent the action of the Trotting Club in arranging the draw for positions in the overcrowded Mangere Handicap, in time for publication in THE SUN two days prior to the fixture, they will regret that the rules of trotting do not allow of some other more satisfactory measure being adopted. Horses drawing the - second division alley are certainly being handicapped by another process than the ordinary official adjustment, and it is neither fair to the owners, the public, nor the handicapper that such an alteration should be made. But under existing conditions the

Auckland Executive has no alternative, and made the best of a bad bargain by acquainting owners and the public in ample time of the positions at the barrier. CLUBS COULD ACT Such an important question' cannot, however, he allowed to rest in its present position, and if the Trotting Parliament of the Dominion will not decide in favour of divisional racing, where the fields are unwieldy, their clubs must of necessity take a hand in solving the great problem. This could be done in the drafting of the programme, making a stipulation that entries will be received only from horses that have done the time fixed for the limit. This would have the effect of weeding out a good number on metropolitan tracks, but they would still have their say in country fixtures. SWEEPSTAKE REMEDY Another way of overcoming the difficulty would be to make a substantial final payment something in the nature of a sweepstake, and this policy, if adopted, would considerably clean and straighten-up\tlie fields. It is a big subject, but one that the administrative powers in the trotting world must handle in the very near futui;e.