Plan Special Type Betting for Epsom: English Turf Associations Will Benefit from Mammoth One to Four Derby Pool, Daily Racing Form, 1957-05-17

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Plan Special Type . Betting for Epsom English Turf Associations Will Benefit From Mammoth One to Four Derby Pool LONDON, England, May 16. — Favored by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who has dropped entertainment tax on all sport, Britains strained racing finances are to be helped further by a new betting "gimmick" on the Epsom Derby. Postal Tote Service, an offshoot of the official totalisator which caters for small off-course backers, is introducing a mammoth pool on the Derby in which those far-seeing punters who can forecast the first four in correct order will be in for a prize of up to 8,000 for a two-shilling stake. A "cut " of 5 per cent of the money taken will be given to the Racecourse Association, the membership of which includes almost all Britains racetracks. It will help the courses increase prize money and improve amenities for the public. «- The total prize pool will be divided in three, with 60 per cent for the winning bettors, 25 per cent for a second dividend and 15 per cent for a third. There will be a "ceiling" of 8,000 on the winning dividend. Should Be Popular With Small Backers The plan is expected to prove popular with Britains host of small backers. Ticket? worth 60,000 have been printed, and the organizers hope they will have to put in another printing order before the classic Blue Riband is run on June 5. It remains to be seen whether these hopes are justified. It could be that a lot of the people who annually invest a couple of shillings on the Derby — and that comprises nearly all in Britain over the age of 15 or so — will steer their "bobs" from the bookmakers to this new wager. It is akin to the football pools on which small sums, which, in the aggregate, are huge, are wagered weekly, and if it "catches on" like the football pools it will yield quite a sizable sum for the sport. In the meantime, the Chancellor of the Exchequer is putting a sum estimated at ,380,000 into the pockets of the racecourse executives — or rather, is refraining from taking it out of them — by his self-denial in abjuring entertainment tax. This is a nice sum to "play with," and it it good to see that some of the benefit is to be passed on to racegoers direct. On the abolition of the tax, the senior steward of The Jockey Club expressed the hope that executives would use a considerable proportion of the relief to reduce admission charges. Example is better than precept, and it was not long in following. The Jockey Club announced reductions in admission charges to Newmarket, the headquarters course, amounting to two-thirds of the remitted duty. This is a wise and far-seeing course, in the opinion of most critics. The attraction of larger attendances, and the consequent spread of interest in racing, is likely to do much more good in the long run than the retention of the tax relief by keeping admission charges at their previous level.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1950s/drf1957051701/drf1957051701_47_6
Local Identifier: drf1957051701_47_6
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800