TRICKS OF THE GAME

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 135, 29 August 1927, Page 6

TRICKS OF THE GAME

OWNERS, WOULD-BE JUDGES, AND OTHERS AT C.J.C. The sins of the fathers are often visited on the sons. There is no doubt that at one time the Canterbury Jockey Club was not by any means the most popular sporting body in the Dominion (says the Dunedin writer, “Sentinel”). In fact, it was often damned as the most unpopular club in the country. The reason was not difficult to find. People who. on some flimsy pretext or other, could obtain complimentary tickets from some clubs, found that it was a case of pay or stay away when they came to Riccarton. Ladies’ tickets, which can be obtained by the handful from some clubs, are not distributed so freely for the Riccarton meetings, and consequently the popularity of the Canterbury Jockey Club’s committee suffers by comparison. HARSH CRITICS In much the same way the “deadhead” in the theatrical world is converted into a particularly harsh critic when it becomes compulsory to pay for admittance. It is generally those with the least right to consideration in the way of free tickets who make the most noise. It has got so bad, in fact, that free tickets are claimed and granted because the applicant is what is termed a good punter. In that case the free ticket is merely regarded as throwing a mackerel to catch a whale. A good punter may be said to pay many times over for his free ticket, and the clubs who scatter the “paper” find it a paying policy to establish what is really a false reputation for generosity. THE TIGHT ONES Still, there it is, and others who endeavour to conduct their meetings on legitimate business lines are described as “poor sports.” The writer’s experience of the Canterbury Jockey Club is that owners and others receive all the privileges they can reasonably expect. The liberality may suffer by comparison with that of other clubs which practically buy their popularity. It would be far more satisfactory if clubs adopted a uniform policy in regard to tickets of admittance and had to adhere to it under a penalty. This would protect those who had a legitimate claim and bring others to realise that if they are fond of racing they should help to support it and not cheat it out of a legitimate source of revenue. OLD GAGS Some people will by hook or by crook endeavour to gain free admittance to a. racecourse. For instance, the individual who declared to the gatekeeper that he was the “judge.” The gatekeeper retaliated by saying that he had already admitted six judges. “Well,” said the would-be dead-head, “I’m the judge of the seventh race.” Another of the same kidney endeavoured to convince a gatekeeper, by walking in backwards, that he was coming out. There is also the story of the man who would not be allowed on a racecourse under any circumstances. He arrived long before the first race, and when blocked at the gate and told that there was no room for him, said, “What, full up already?”