Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) has been forced to suddenly halt the commencement of 400m racing at Taree’s Mid North Coast (MNC) racetrack following the intervention from the Greyhound Welfare & Integrity Commission (GWIC).
The decision, just three weeks out from when racing was scheduled to commence, has been described by the MNC club as “a slap in the face” for local participants.
Last month GRNSW announced that following extensive research work with industry experts and engineers and, a track evaluation late last year, that racing from the 400m start would commence on March 7.
The 400m start formed part of the original reconstruction of the track completed in late 2024, but as the start had a run into the first turn of less than 40m, GRNSW’s MTS required that independent research to be undertaken to assess the start’s suitability for racing.
GRNSW has completed minor remediation works since the evaluation was completed at the 400m start, and following numerous track inspections confirmed its MTS compliance with trials from the 400m start being successfully conducted since February 5.
GRNSW informed GWIC in early January of the independent engineering research and a safety assessment of the Taree 400m start before announcing racing would commence in March.
However, this week GWIC notified GRNSW that they would not endorse the commencement of racing from the 400m starting boxes at Taree, as their expert, West Australian-based Wayne Edgeloe, had a difference of opinion to that of GRNSW’s independent expert Kevin Covey.
GRNSW Chief Executive Officer Steve Griffin described the situation as very disappointing for the Taree club and industry participants.
“I respect GWIC’s role in terms of greyhound welfare, however, what is very concerning here for the sport is GWIC’s unwillingness to collaborate with the industry to find a pathway to allowing Taree to use the 400m start, which is badly needed in the region,” Mr Griffin said.
“I had a meeting with the Acting CEO of GWIC on Wednesday where it was agreed that our experts would get together as soon as possible to work through GWIC's expert’s concerns and obtain a pathway forward that would allow racing to commence from the 400m start next month.
“Our Chief of Racing was organising a meeting for the two experts plus a GRNSW and a GWIC executive, for next Monday that would result in a resolution.
“Curiously, the Acting CEO sent me an email at 10pm that same night stating that GWIC would not allow the meeting of the experts to go ahead as agreed to.”
In correspondence sent to GRNSW only last week, GWIC’s position is that if Taree uses the 400m start then GWIC will use rule 13(g) of the national racing rules to prevent racing from that start.
GRNSW is seeking legal advice as to whether GWIC has the authority to use this rule for this purpose, particularly given GWIC Stewards have no evidence that the 400m start is not, in fact, safe.
Mr Griffin said GRNSW had hoped that the differences could be resolved within a timeframe that would allow racing from the 400m start at Taree to commence next month, but this is no longer the case.
“The only way that this impasse could be resolved is for our two experts to meet and work through their expert opinions. It is very disappointing for participants and concerning to us that GWIC is not willing to work collaboratively with GRNSW in the best interests of the sport in relation to this matter,” he said.
In November Mr Covey’s company, the Kelley Covey Group, inspected the 400m start and observed greyhounds starting from the 400m boxes. They found that these “occurred without major incident” and aerial tracking of the greyhounds “demonstrated that the 400m curve start did not cause the greyhounds to engage in a dangerous racing trajectory”, and as such it was deemed the 400m start could be made safe for greyhound racing with the recommended rectifications undertaken.
MNC Greyhound Racing Club Chairman Paul Vanni has described the situation as “a slap in the face” not only for local participants but also the club and industry.
“I really feel for the participants and the members,” he said. “We're doing our level best to inspire new members, trying to get new people attracted to the sport. We've done some great things with Breakfast with the Stars for rehoming, inviting rehomed dogs in the area to functions, we're holding community events, and we're getting people excited by being there. And then this is just a slap in the face. We take one step forward, and now we're going two steps backwards.
“The track team has been working super hard, with the assistance and support from GRNSW. Our curator drives the tractor with a level in his hand that's how dedicated he is to maintaining the track to the GRNSW Minimum Track Standards.
“Not being able to utilize those 400m boxes is just very, very difficult for participants because taking their dogs from 300m to 500m is almost impossible task without being able to condition them over 400m.
“Time-honoured races of which we secured major corporate sponsorship are now being lost for an unknown period of time.
“From a commercial standpoint we’re losing money, from a turnover standpoint we're losing money, but more importantly, from a confidence and participation level, owners and trainers are becoming disillusioned.
“Participants are reluctant to engage and purchase new pups because we've got half an opportunity for them.”
