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Aussies flock to cockroach race

Gambling-mad Australians, teased for willingly betting on two flies crawling up a wall, have expanded their horizons - now they’re placing bets on cockroaches. A record crowd of more than 7,000 punters is expected to attend the 23rd annual Cockroach Races in the east coast city of Brisbane on Australia’s national day, with some bringing their own runners and others buying competitors there.

“More and more people are coming to town especially for this premier racing event, where everyone can be the owner of a thoroughbred,” said organiser Richard Deery, general manager of Brisbane’s Story Bridge Hotel that hosts the races. As the story goes, the race dates back to the day 23 years ago when two old punters were sitting in the bar arguing over which suburb had the biggest and fastest cockroaches.

Australia is home to about 450 native species of cockroach, which are not pests and are mainly bush dwellers, and also has around six species of pest cockroach, most of them introduced from outside the continent and which now plague almost every house.

The two punters decided to race some roaches the next day - and history was made.

Australians have the highest rate of gambling in the world, a passion dating back to when the first convict settlers, shipped out from Britain in 1788, reportedly bet on cards and dice.

By the early 1800s, horse racing was the rage but this has now been overtaken by the flashing slot or poker machines that line the walls of almost every pub, hotel and casino. More than 20 percent of the world’s poker machines are in Australia, about five times as many as in the United States on a per capita basis.

National gambling statistics released late last year showed Australians gambled away a record A$15 billion in the year - nearly two percent of Gross Domestic Product and slightly more than the nation’s defence budget.

Few Australians baulk at betting. The nation grinds to a standstill every year for the Melbourne Cup horse race and the nation’s richest man, Kerry Packer, is an unrepentant gambler, known for spending millions at the baccarat table.

People who lacked time to trap and train their own six-legged runners could buy a cockroach from the house stable for A$5 but demand always outstripped supply. All funds raised go to a local children’s hospital.

The races are held on a circular track with the cockroaches released from an upturned bucket in the middle. First to the edge is the winner. The steeplechase event is a bit trickier with the runner having to navigate a circular fence - well, a garden hose - to get to the edge. —Reuters

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