SIDE BY SIDE

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 232, 20 December 1927, Page 8

SIDE BY SIDE

TOTE AND BOOK MOVE AT LAST BY ENGLISH JOCKEY CLUB The Jockey Club has decided in favour of the totalisator. At a meeting at Newmarket recently they resolved to press for an alteration in the law to permit of the introduction of the tote, and the licensing of bookmakers by the authorities governing racing, says a London writer. The attitude on the part of the controlling body in racing is the result of an inquiry by a combined committee of the Jockey Club, the National Hunt Committee and the National Coursing Club. Lord Hamilton of Dalzell, the senior steward of the Jockey Club, presided over the committee, which was appointed “to inquire into the means by which betting may best be made to contribute to the maintenance of sport.” AN ACHIEVEMENT Tlieir unanimous finding, which was approved by the full meeting of the Jockey Club, was that this result could be achieved by obtaining such alteration in the laws as would permit of: (a) The totalisator or pari-mutuel being installed on racecourses under the rules of the Jockey Club or National Hunt Committee; and (b) Bookmakers on such racecourses and at coursing meetings under the rules of the National Coursing Club being charged fees on a graduated scale by the above-mentioned racing and coursing authorities. The committee were of opinion that these methods would produce a valuable contribution to the maintenance of sport, if adopted separately or in combination, provided that such a tax were imposed on the business of start-ing-price offices as, after making due allowance for working expenses, would put them on a level footing with the totalisator and racecourse bookmakers. DECREASE IN RECEIPTS

Lord Hamilton told the Club that the figures for racecourse receipts from the beginning of the season to the end of September this year showed a decrease of £136,000 compared with the similar period of 1925. That year was selected as 1926 did not give a fair basis of comparison on account of the coal dispute. Before the introduction of his betting tax Mr. Winston Churchill said: “I do not believe that the totalisator would necessarily be so disadvantageous to the bookmaking fraternity as is sometimes represented; opinion is gathering much more strongly in favour of it.” WHAT THE “TOTE” IS The totalisator, writes Captain Heath (the racing correspondent of “The Daily Chronicle”), is, in effect, a pool of the whole of the money staked on the horses in a race both for win and a place, which, less a certain percentage, is divided after the race, pro rata among the holders of the winning ticket. A portion of the deducted percentage is usually taken by the State and the remainder by the racecourse executive. In countries where the totalisator is in operation, it has been found able to devote considerable money to improving the comfort and convenience of racegoers, tp reducing admission charges, and to the increase of stakes with a resultant improvement in the breed of racehorses. In South Africa, Australia and parts of India bookmakers and the totalisator are to be found operating side by side. This is the scheme which is now recommended by the Jockey Club and which has been consistently urged by mo sine© it became apparent that the betting tax was likely to have an injurious effect on British racing. In France, where racing has undoubtedly benefited very considerably from the totalisator, there are no recognised bookmakers, but a considerable amount of betting, nevertheless, goes on surreptitiously. A recommendation was recently made by the racing authorities in Ireland with a view to the introduction of the totalisator on their courses.