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Sound and the mouth of the Wakamarina and Rai Valleys with its various branches, and the residents of these districts have very little chance of attending a race meeting other than the one for which we apply for a permit. Mr. Massey, in reply to our deputation, said he recognized we were situated in a central country district, and considered our claims for one of the new permits just and right. The Pelorus Hack Racing Club was formed on the 2nd July, 4910, and amalgamated with the Havelock Hack Racing Club on the 9th November, 1912. Ihe Havelock Hack Racing Club.has been in existence for the last thirty years, and for ten years it held a totalizator license, but owing to the Totalizator Act being amended that all clubs should pay out not less than £250 in stakes, and as this amount was beyond our reach, we lost our totalizator license. The Havelock Hack Racing Club held its meeting about seven miles from the Pelorus Hack Racing Club's meeting, and both clubs recognized the fact that it would be better to amalgamate and run one race meeting, and the present club is practically the old Havelock Hack Racing Club. Our racecourse is alongside the Nelson main road. Circumference of course at present is 7 furlongs, but we are going to extend the distance to 9 furlongs, and no doubt it will be an ideal track. We have not got the course fenced on the inside, nor any buildings thereon, but you can rest assured that if we are granted a totalizator license Aye will guarantee to fence the course on the inside and erect what buildings are required. Distances from nearest places at which race meetings are held : Clubs using totalizator —Blenheim, on the south side of main road, forty-live miles; Nelson, on the north side of main road, fifty miles; club not using totalizator—Wairau Valley, forty-five miles. The Pelorus Hack Racing Club is a registered club in every sense. By the Deputation. —As to the course, we have an agreement with Mr. Knapman, the hotelkeeper here, to lease the paddock on which the course is situated for ten years. .He has undertaken to put the course in first-class order and to fence it half-way, and the club has agreed to do the rest of the fencing on the inside. We are prepared to put up the necessary accommodation in the event of our getting a permit. We think the present site is an ideal one for the course, because it is on this side of the river, and is accessible to motor-cars from both Nelson and Blenheim. We are situated half-way between Nelson, and Blenheim. Most of the horses competing at these meetings travel through here, and we could have a meeting here to fit in between the Nelson and Blenheim meetings, which would suit horse-owners admirably. Of course, at present our course is nothing to boast of, but we only started here since the Havelock Club lost its course. We have many real live sports in the district who are prepared to support our club. We consider we could provide an excellent day's sport, and it is our ambition to give the residents of this district a good day's sport and not to hold a meeting for gambling purposes only. We find now that we really want a permit in order to make both ends meet. The object of the amalgamation between the two clubs was to avoid any friction in our application for one of these permits. At our last meeting we had between six hundred and eight hundred people present, and from sixty to seventy motor-cars. The people all about make a sort of picnic of our day's sport. That attendance shows that with a permit we could cater for a big crowd. All we want you to do is to weigh up our claims with the other claims. Takaka Racing Club. The headquarters of the club are at Takaka. The club has been in continuous existence for the past eighteen years, and is registered. The last meeting was held in February, 1914. A list of the present members of the club and a, copy of the club's last balance-sheet have been forwarded. 'The racecourse has a fine natural situation, with a sloping terrace at the side which affords an ideal natural grandstand. There are no permanent buildings erected, but it is proposed to make improvements in this direction if the permit is granted. The circumference of the course is 6 1 furlongs. The tenure is leasehold. The course is fenced except about 2 furlongs, which will be completed before the next meeting, on the 2nd February next. The nearest club using the totalizator is at Nelson, seventy-three miles distant. The nearest clubs not using the totalizator are at Karamea and Murehison, about a hundred and twenty miles distant. We have, as before stated, been in existence continuously for eighteen years, and, notwithstanding that we were deprived of the bookmakers three years ago, have continued to prosper, until this year the balance-sheet discloses a credit balance of £79 odd, which under the circumstances must be considered distinctly good. Other clubs now applying for a permit have under similar conditions practically ceased to exist. Moreover, our meeting is held every year on the day following the Agricultural and Pastoral Society's Summer Show, and a very large number of people from Nelson and the surrounding districts make a holiday excursion of this, and arc always provided with a good day's sport. There is only one totalizator club (Nelson) in the whole of the Nelson District, and it only holds one meeting a year, so that if a permit is granted to the Takaka Club it will stimulate racing and the breeding of good horses in this district to an immense extent, besides placing the district on a more equal footing with other districts. The members of our club's committee have personally guaranteed more than the amount of the stakes on the programme should the permit be granted. By the Deputation. —This club has been in existence for twenty years, and with the exception of six years previous to that has been racing for the last thirty-five years. We have never had any revenue from the totalizator, and we have always carried on our racing in a substantial manner. At present we have a credit balance of over £100. This has been a great breeding district for horses, but many horses have had to leave the district owing to the fact that there have practically been no stakes to race for. Of course, we can only give up to a certain amount in stakes. There is at present not one totalizator permit in the Motueka Electorate, and there is only one in the combined Nelson and Motueka Electorates. If we had a permit we could give better stakes and so encourage our breeders to keep their horses in the district instead of sending