Ten Shilling Tote

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 118, 9 August 1927, Page 16

Ten Shilling Tote

NOT FOR AUCKLAND I DEFEATING ITS OWN ENDS “Does the Auckland Racing Club exist for the purpose of providing racing, or to provide facilities for 10s betting? I think our first duty is the encouragement of the breeding of horses, and not the encouragement of betting,” stated Sir Edwin Mitchelson, president of the club, in stating at the annual meeting of the club, yesterday afternoon, that the committee was definitely opposed to extensions of the 10s totalisator. “If members want the 10s tote there is only one thing for them to do,” remarked Sir Edwin. “They must put in a new committee —and for the four vacancies this year they have nominated only one new member. The cost of putting in the extensions of the 10s tote, as suggested, means an expenditure of £25,000, and if it was instituted our revenue would fall so much that we would only have the option of reducing our stakes. Christchurch and Wellington do not give within £20,000 of the Auckland stakes each year. Canterbury, with only a leasehold property, and the 10s tote, could not write a penny off their improvements, while Auckland made a profit last year that allowed of nearly £IO,OOO being written off and £2,000 being carried forward.” The revenue of every club in New Zealand had gone down, he remarked. “I want to tell you something that has not been made public before, and that is that last year we had to take £7,000 out of revenue to contribute to the stake fund. This has been caused by the large falling off in the tote receipts, but the decrease in Auckland, proportionately, has not been so large as in other centres.” Sir Edwin remarked that as soon as funds permitted the club intended to put down a tan track that would be equally as good as that in Sydney.