100% agree Gillian

But Peter will just think you are an oxygen thief as well

I don't know what your problem is, but you seem to have a real chip on your shoulder about something

Everybody has an opinion just like an arse. Sometimes, you have to work out which one youre using otherwise you can get yourself into shit (verbally speaking). Did you have a bad day or week ? Lose big ? Those previous comments are whacky tabacky ones. Way out there; left field shit man. Full moon driven. You stay safe.

There are a lot of people out there with the same view

The figure's in you're link,DON'T LIE, VIRTUALLY 70% of races under 400 mtrs !!,think about guys & gal's.

steven martin wrote:

NSWs Disturbing Racing Trend Revealed ---> EXTERNAL LINK

It's a bit like watching Bathurst on a Sunday in October. The V8 Supercars do 161 (1000k's) around Mount Panorama. Why? Because that's what the public want to watch. Not the rice popping 4 cylinders.

The same can be said about greyhound racing over 457m / 520m / 600m & 720m distances. That's what the racing owners, trainers & public enjoy the most.

The only reason I believe that 300m racing is enjoying the same $$$$ as the much-preferred distances named above is that due to the downtown in breeding (2015), TAB needs a product to punt on due to the supply & demand it has created, & all that is left in the barrel is 300m dogs....so basically $$$$ is thrown at the trainer to keep & race these greyhounds at the expense of quality racing. And I have no qualm with that as yes these greyhounds deserve the chance to earn a buck, but quite frankly there's no other alternative atm.

So it's up to our leaders to now turn the tables on breeding to encourage us to breed a better quality greyhound, but as most breeders that have been around for 20 plus years know that can be near impossible as 300m swibs result in 99% of all litters whelped. Gee even my last litter to one of Australia's greatest greyhounds (Just The Best) over a bitch that was a city winner, won mainly from 520m (460m to 550m) in fast times, who is by an outcross-sire & has a litter-brother that won 20 city races & made Group races over 520m / 700m....all the ingredients to produced quality greyhounds has produced mainly these 300m runners, something I wasn't expecting. So I went a totally different avenue for her next litter.

Why is Victoria the GREYHOUND CAPITAL ATM? Simple. They have an abundance of ONE TURN TRACKS which makes the best & fairest racing. NSW & QLD have sh1t CORNER-STARTS..... It's as clear as that, as why would you want to move to a climate where's is either raining or bl00dy cold for the majority of the year (no offence).

Anyway.....I have other ideas but for now, it's back to work.

Cheers, Steve.

But at least with ONE-TURN-TRACKS, these short-courses can race with a fairer start & can even build on their stamina.....something you can't do with CORNER-STARTS because it's smash-up-derby where dogs LOSE CONFIDENCE which in turn creates bad habits.

If NSW & QLD for that matter want to go forward like VIC, build ONE-CORNER-TRACKS.

You've gotta spend money to make money.

First, races are set up according to nominations coming through from trainers.

Second, trainers are primarily influenced by two things; what suits their dog and how much money is on offer.

Or the reverse order if you like.

Now, for donkeys years I have been writing about poor track designs and the extra attention given to short course racing the latest in a June 5 article in ARG, which was expanded by a Recorder article (in more depth) on June 18. Clearly, that has brought many commentators out into the open here, most agreeing to one degree or another that longer is better than shorter.

Historically, the last few decades have seen clear delineations (or used to):

Slower or weaker dogs ran at non-Tab Country tracks, more often over short trips and earning only kibble money.
Well performed and stronger dogs ran at TAB tracks, pulling in reasonable cash. Short races were in the minority.
Top dogs ran at Wenty (or previously HP) for good money. There was a time when a trainer would crawl over broken glass just to get a draw in town. Short races never existed there.

Todays pie is sliced up in different ways due to two primary factors a declining dog population and a desperate plunge by administrations which were trying to maximise betting income by filling any old hole in the TAB program with any old standard of dog.

Yes, welfare and euthanasia issues were important, but they were and are different matters and unrelated to the reasons underlying basic racing decisions by both clubs and state administrations. They should be addressed separately as should track designs, breeding, marketing and so on.

What is not at issue is that the smaller dog population and a consistent or rising number of races have led to lower quality pups entering the racing scene. Under the old system they would have been relegated to Country. Today, they are in the overall mix despite attempts to dream up new Grading classifications. Hence a decline in average field quality as in speed and strength. That has emerged on top of the obvious overall shortage.

Since the newcomers cant run very far it is inevitable that the trend to shorter races would rear its head and then gather strength. Even the better dogs have been able to pick up extra money by racing more often. Thats whats coming out in the nominations.

This is not rocket science. Quick money is in charge. Crappy racing is now all the go.

Why? Because administrators have let it happen even encouraged it (see Neds 280s).

To fix this worsening situation it is plain that those same administrators must use the only tool they know about money. Pay less for the shorts and more for the longs and make the changes big ones. It wont take long for the penny to drop.

* * *

PS: It does vary but typically Victoria has 24 weekly meetings of which 2 are on straight tracks, 7 are on circles (including Geelong which has both types and Cranbourne which is dominantly a 311m exercise), and 15 on one-turns (where many races start on bends over the 400s and over 520m-545m and beyond). The circle number would normally be higher but Traralgon is now out of action and will return as a one-turn.

PS2: The current NSW review is about the new Act and GWIC. The racing program and cash are organised by GRNSW (no doubt with lots of help from GBOTA).

PS3: Singleton was never a one-turn track. It main trip started on bend and the popular 384m ran straight into the top turn. It needed help but it boasted a lively mob of people yet it was dumped by NCA in favour of more Newcastle dates. That cost many folk in the Northwest of the state a ready access to TAB racing. Wyong disappeared at the same time. GRA (as it was then) just looked on and wrote down the answer.

It looks pretty as a picture and obviously reflects a lot of work put into it. However, it is grass and with that comes good and bad.

I have no knowledge of the grass type but if it is similar to Cessnock it will mostly run OK but still be subject to nasty stalks, mini-holes and wear and tear. But the big one is that the gradients are peculiar, leading to erratic courses taken by some dogs. That's hard to fix on a grass track but easy to correct on a loam surface.

Sectional data is also light on.

Erratic racing / tracking of some dogs is not often the fault of the surface, but as you know being a keyboard trainer, there are other factors you have to include in explaining why your dog ran the way it did.

I told you before, you often `are not seeing or feeling it' and some of your comments clearly demonstrate it. I'll grant you this, it is a `picture' and the Taree Club has done a great job in presenting a great surface to race dogs on. The design of the track doesn't suit all dogs just like Kempsey and Wauchope as examples on the MNC. Some trainers won't race their dogs on some tracks.

EXTERNAL LINK