Conference Chairman On the Handicapping

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1019, 9 July 1930, Page 13

Conference Chairman On the Handicapping

VEXED QUESTION must be no favours special to TJIE HEX WELLINGTON, Today. i. presenting the annual report Aur New Zealand Trotting Conference which opened at Wellingthis morning, Mr. John Rowe, Auckland, who is presiding over the assembly in the absence of the 'resident. Mr, H. F. Nicoll, made ” interesting remarks on the question of ping"Til© great Question, said the chairn "which seriously occupies the minds of 811 thoso i;onnected with the ort of trotting is 'handicapping.' We Jure passed through 12 months of a ■system which I might be permitted to say has not been a system but a nightmare to many, especially to •self- Much discussion has taken , ace an d opinions and suggestions J a v» been offered from al! quarters. One X read, from a well-known Christchurch trainer, may suit the South Island with its abundance of horses, but it would be a different proposition in those districts where thote was otili , limited number. Ip my opinion dues lidng ft the present time, tinder a compulsory system, would mean ruination to the small clubs. it is possible he advocates that system bomuse it would suit the present team of horses under his control, and in a year or two li© will be found advocating something new. and so he -would go on, endeavouring to arrange a system that would fit in with his own requirements. Not Ready For Class Racing • It certainly appears to me that some owners would be pleased to have clubs compelled to arrange programmes with limits to suit their particular team. While Christchurch might be ready for class racing—and I have my doubt—the Dominion as a whole is certainly U "The present system ot' handicapping has been on trial for 1 2 months and no one can say it has been a success. It is to be reviewed today a nct I will leave it in your hands, but if this system is to continue the penalty mUat he a fixed one and not left to the discretion of any hu.ndica.pper to put the big man back 12 yards and the small man 24 or 30 yards. It must be made into a system that will be absolutely free from any chance of favouritism. The intermediate distances must also be arranged for. It must not be left to the liandicapper to suppose a horse can do a utile and aquarter at a faster gait than ho has wen over a mile and a-half, or vice versa. It must be a system where all owners will be on the same level.”