Hope your well.

could you drop me an email at [email protected] I want to run something by you.

Lads Ive known Kieran on various greyhound forums for probably 20 years and we have had great discussions and many arguments. But one thing Im sure of is whether he owns greyhounds or not at present, you wont meet a more passionate greyhound man. Lets start playing the ball and not the man.

Some suggestions
1 Observe the Aussie online offering , presentation of tracks, grading system, style - and come up with something as good if not better.
2 Further investment and promotion into getting our product into bars , restaurants and into houses - a tab or parait mutuel system if at all possible
3 move some race meetings away from the weekend
4 provide on track cashless tote and book making facilities
5 Take on the lotto - first thing call the "Jackpot" the "lotto"- some people (young especially) dont know what a jackpot is but when they hear lotto - bells start ringing. My preference is to link this lotto to attendance rather than betting turnover. We did it before at benefit nights and it worked well.
Pick a race and pick 6 attendees(one for each dog in the race) from a fanfare open draw during the meeting. Bring the 6 drawn attendees to the limelight before the race and have them shout their dogs home. Big prize for the winner - 1000 min and more linked to the overall attendance level.
The moral is that ordinary Joe has to think he has the chance to win big by just attending a race meeting.
6 fancy coffee bars are more popular to some that liqour bars these days - this avenue should be explored

Anyway - rant over

I can't comment on Irish industry but I can on the Aussie version.

What is done oncourse is not very relevant because only trainers and families are there and they tend to use smartphones for what they like to call "punting".

Cannington can be a bit misleading because the WA state has almost no poker machines to divert interest. In any event, WA has long suffered the impact of what goes on in the Eastern states. Today that means a nasty shortage of dogs - hence the recent introduction of short races in Cannington's prime time meetings.

The "cashless" track is not too grabby as most trainers and many others already use smartphones to do business, check form or bet. On course bookmakers are as rare as hens teeth.

Friday and Saturday (and sometimes Thursday) attract more business for social reasons. Other days are pretty ordinary for those who have to go to work the next day.

The Tote now owns less then half of all betting and its share is declining. Pool sizes are too small for good betting. If you can get set with one of the numerous online betting houses then you are probably taking "unders" as they tend to operate with 130% books. ((Those betting houses were once locally owned but are now dominated by European or Canadian firms - each of which is battling to sustain their operation in a small-pool environment. The gallops are OK due to big pools).

The last decade has seen a progressive decline in average field quality as more runts of the litter get a start (partly an outcome of government policies on welfare and euthanasia).

With that, race distances have shortened and new 260m-350m events bunged into the program - the runts can't run any further. And such races mostly start on a bend which increases interference and promotes uncertain dividends.

There is no industry management in Oz - only paper shuffling by bureaucrats.

My general tip: greyhound racing cannot be sustained on its own efforts; it needs partners which may or may not be racing-aligned.

I am writing to you in relation to complaints i have received from some owners, about the lack of opportunities afforded to their greyhounds to race. Their complaints seem to be justified when one considers that the second most important track in the country i.e. Cork is on a reduced racing schedule. How can owners be expected to continue to keep dogs when they cant get regular racing for them ?.

In Cork there is a very good population of owners and greyhounds, yet they are confined to racing on a Saturday night as Thursday is allocated to Bags Racing. This makes it extremely difficult to have dogs on the Programme on a very regular basis.

While Bags meetings may be beneficial to the accounts, it is not the way forward for the well being of the industry.

Also we have a huge number of complaints from owners in the Longford/Mullingar area, after the closure of the track in Longford. A track that had a big pool of dogs, the owners were left with nowhere to run their dogs other than to try Mullingar. No additional meetings have been added to Mullingar to accommodate those people. The same owners that the IGB relied upon to supply them with dogs for the additional Christmas meetings at Mullingar and Shelbourne Park. These additional meetings were call the Longford race nights.

So much for the promise that was made by the IGB, that in the event of track closures such as Harrolds Cross that the owners would be accommodated with additional race nights at the surrounding tracks. Another broken promise.

Recently i had a call from a lady purporting to be from the Limerick area. She said that it was next to impossible to get her dog on the card owing to the lack of race meetings. She stated that the bags meetings were a joke with the same dogs running every week and the same owners winning most of the races. I told her that was a matter that her local GOBA should take up with the Management as they are not affiliated to the IGOBF.

The continued reliance on Bags meetings at the expense of some owners will only lead to the quicker demise of the Greyhound Industry.

I urge you to restore to the tracks their correct allocation of meetings. i.e.

3 night a week tracks. 3 meetings { 1 bags , 2 ordinary }

2 night a week tracks { 2 ordinary } or where appropriate { 1 ordinary, 1 Bags }

We await your reply on the above matters.

Regards

Tony Walsh

Chairperson IGOBF.CLG

Aussie Model is better looking than the Irish!
It is hard for us to compare like with like in Ireland in order to evaluate how the Irish greyhound industry is performing.

Our nearest benchmark is available in the UK where the industry is in serious trouble. However, the model in Britain is far different from the one in operation in the 32 counties of Ireland. The way the sport is structured, the system of contracted trainers and bookmaker/promoter control is alien to the way we do things here.

There is however a very good yardstick for us to use in a quick benchmarking exercise. The state of Victoria is the smallest mainland state in Australia. With a population very similar to our own, and with a strong greyhound industry and history, it is possible to make comparisons.

In Victoria, Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV) is the body responsible for promoting and controlling the sport, much like our own Irish Greyhound Board (IGB). The GRV is remarkably similar to the IGB in terms of its establishment and in its boards functions and powers. Established under the Racing Act 1958, a read through its Annual Report 2012 and the Strategic Plan 2011-2020 make for very interesting and familiar reading. Links to these two documents are found at EXTERNAL LINK

Victoria Ireland
Area 91,749 sq mi Area 32,595.1 sq mi
Population 5.6million Population 6.4million (4.6 + 1.8)

GRV IGB
Average of 17 race meetings per week Average of 40 race meetings per week
Total Prize Money 2012 = 28.5m ($36m)
Increase from 2007 = 57%

($22.9m to $36m)

Total Prize Money 2012 = 5m
Decrease from 2007 = 59%

(5m from 12.2m)

Some may say, quite rightly, that Australia is a far more prosperous place than Ireland to live right now, and we know how hard it is for businesses to operate in the current financial climate. But lets look at how the IGB and GRV are competing within their own marketplaces, against key competitors.

Irish Greyhound Racing : The Poor Relation?

Is the IGB allowing greyhound racing to play second fiddle to horse racing. How is it competing with Horse Racing Ireland?

Total IGB prizemoney has dropped by 59% since 2007 compared to a fall of just 5% for Horse Racing Ireland
Tote turnover in 2007 was 48m at IGB tracks compared with 54m at HRI courses. Both industries have suffered in the downturn but while IGB Tote turnover continues to fall, HRI Tote is on the up, rising 6m in 2011
IGB Tote turnover in 2011 was 24m half of what it was in 2007. HRI Tote turnover was 45m in 2011 down 17% from 2007.

GRV : The Model Student

GRV is continuously increasing its market share against main competitors Harness Racing Victoria and Racing Victoria (thoroughbred racing) in off-course betting.

In 2007 GRV had a 5% market share. In 2012 this stood at 20.6%. The other 2 codes saw their share fall
A staggering $694m was wagered off course on GRV races in 2012. Thats 548m
Below is an article from November last highlighting the successful and mutually beneficial relationship between GRV and its betting partner Tabcorp.

RECORD BREAKING TAB MELBOURNE CUP
Friday 23 November, 2012
Thursday nights TAB Melbourne Cup at Sandown Park was one of the biggest meetings in Australian greyhound racing history with a Victorian record of $1.375 million in wagering turnover.
The figure of $1.375 million in Victorian turnover represents an increase on the 2011 Melbourne Cup of 28.8 per cent with a record Quaddie pool of $552,000 on SuperTAB representing a 61.8 per cent increase on last year.

Chief Executive Officer at Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV), Adam Wallish, believes the result is indicative of the current growth in Victorian greyhound racing.

The record results from last nights meeting at Sandown Park show the publics interest in greyhound racing and their willingness to back the fastest growing racing code in Australia.

The relationship between Tabcorp and GRV under the new Joint Venture Agreement is important and we are pleased that this relationship has delivered such a terrific result for the Melbourne Cup.

Greg Miller and his team at Sandown Park did a tremendous job with the promotion and execution of the event with the brilliant wagering results a testament to their hard work, Mr Wallish said.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Tabcorp, David Attenborough, commented that the organisation was very pleased with the results.

Tabcorp was delighted to be associated with the TAB Melbourne Cup meeting and support it with a range of activities, including the record $500,000 Quaddie pool guarantee.

The wagering turnover performance reflected very strong interest from customers. The Sandown Greyhound Racing Club and Greyhound Racing Victoria have delivered a very successful event, Mr Attenborough said.

The TAB Melbourne Cup is the worlds richest greyhound race with a purse of $500,000. The winning greyhound in last nights race, Got A Moment, won $350,000 for trainer Jason Thompson and connections.

Champion West Australian Miata was victorious in the nights other Group 1 Race, the Solo Bold Trease , earning $100,000 for trainer Paul Stuart and connections. The win took her to number four on the list of the highest earning Australian greyhounds, with $551,000 in prizemoney.

Take a Punt on our own future?

The Greyhound Racing Industry in Ireland has operated for too long away from mass media and major betting markets. Betting shop and online punters can bet on a myriad of sports every day of the week but not on Irish Greyhound Racing. There is a huge non-race going public contributing to an ever increasing betting turnover of which cartoon horse racing and lucky numbers profits more than our industry. Exposure to more mainstream betting markets is essential with our tired and dated TOTE service becoming increasingly inadequate as attendances fall. Examination of the Australian model highlights how important revenue from betting media is and the success of Paddy Power Bookmakers displays clearly that, even in recessionary times, the market is there!!

Paddy Power : An Irish Gambling Success

Operating within the same financial environment as the Irish and British greyhound industries, Paddy Power has taken massive steps every year, making huge increases on profit year after year, proving that disposable income and the leisure Euro is there for the taking if the product is right

Since flotation in 2000, annual turnover at Paddy Power increased from 363m to 3.8 BILLION in 2010! An average growth rate of 27%.Paddy Power is not standing still. They have made massive investments in their online and technology capabilities. So much so that now a bet is struck via a mobile phone app every 3 seconds. They operate an aggressive advertising policy and their social media presence is very strong.

In 2013 we still cannot place bets on Irish racing via a mobile phone device, apart from Saturday nights at Shelbourne Park. Live streaming of racing on the IGB website is completely unreliable.

Look, with the country in lockdown Barking Buzz should be presented as a sky sports type offering for the Derby heats next weekend and for the remainder of the event.
Plus the thousands of clients that the Board have on their marketing data base should be e mailed to make them aware that this is available.
Good publicity for the sponsor and for IGB. Allow viewing for free and bet if you like for the duration of the event get people back on board.
Not going to happen though.

EXTERNAL LINK

Your 19 Aug post quotes info that is badly out of date. Current annual reports are readily available although they contain what the authority wants you to know, not necessarily what you would like to have. National data is now no longer published.

In short ....

Victoria has been undergoing fairly regular rehashing of betting commissions, mostly due to government interventions, which ended up helping the grey code.

Australia, including Victoria, continues to suffer from the decline in the grey population but still maintains or increases race numbers. Hence more empty boxes.

Victorian racing is sustained - but not growing - with the help of imports from the north, particularly the huge Wheeler kennels in NSW. Note that both NSW and Queensland have to cover significant numbers of non-TAB, non-SKY, meetings in country areas. Victoria does not.

Generally, authority expenses are rising at a faster rate than prize money. In part, this is due to higher welfare and whole-of-life costs - mostly as an outcome of the 2015 live baiting sagas in the three Eastern States.

Victoria now has 23 weekly meetings, plus extras from time to time.

In growth and market share terms, greyhounds have lost its 2nd place to Sports betting. Over the last decade greys sustained market share simply by running more races.

Betting is now out of the control of the racing code as Tote shares are rapidly declining to unusable pool levels while the online betting houses (mostly overseas owned) split the other half of activity into less efficient parcels and with virtually no regulatory oversight - hence rip-offs.

You quoted one unusual meeting which was very well publicised and featured champ MIATA and combined with a simultaneous set of stories about an equally prominent horse. More generally, patronage has not been increasing on a like for like basis.

The customer profile is now heavily skewed to mug gamblers, helped by the rising use of smartphones etc, which at best deliver truncated info on form and tend to concentrate on tipsters. SKY pictures drag fans away from the track and racing has to compete with coverage of myriad live sports on Pay TV or Free to Air.

The greyhound breed has a very poor public image and relatively little is being done to overcome that. Anti-racing types run riot even though they comprise only tiny proportions of the population. Many folk object to racing and betting, especially with animals. Everyone admires the horse. Two thirds hate greyhounds.

The solution is to chuck out the lot and start again with a clean slate.

Thank you Bruce for your detailed reply.

And yes the post is out of date but this is an article that the IGOBF published in 2013.

The point we were making in 2013 was that the IGB was pursuing a flawed model that was destined to failure. The IGB had spent huge sums of money on building and maintaining stadia and restaurants to bring people in to the stadia to watch racing. The IGOBF argument was that investment should have been directed at producing a racing product for an online audience. The IGOBF also pointed out that, fundamental to being successful in attracting online punters, the IGB would have to deal with the drug problems within the industry and also apply the rules of racing consistently to all participants. Alas, IGB Chaired by a very antiquated and stubborn personality, refused to listen and today we have a bankrupt industry, with neither an in stadia or an online audience.

There is a terrible urge to call for measures which keep trainers happy. Thats fine as far as it goes but it avoids the basic issue.

Racing was once a recreation which allowed toffs to throw in their animals to gallop against each other across the meadows. Usually, a few side wagers took place.

Today, the system is totally dependent on income from the public betting on those same outcomes. Before betting was centralised/digitised that meant fans coming to the track and placing a bet with a bookmaker. But then race pictures/ videos took over in various ways according to the patterns in each country (eg in USA they still came to the track but the prime attraction was the jointly run casino, not the racing so much). Generally, that had a negative influence in the long run, not just on betting but also on the publics appreciation of the worth of the breed.

Anyway, the point is that the industrys fortunes are dependent on public demand does the man in the street feel attracted to greyhound racing and/or betting?

Fix that and all will be well.

Of course, the parallel objective must be to preserve and enhance the breed but perhaps one will come with the other?

Anything else is secondary. Other measures may be helpful but will be of little use unless the two primary factors are right.

A consultant is suing the Irish Greyhound Board (IGB) for defamation over
public statements it issued to the media about the reliability of a confidential
report he was commissioned to write about the future of the dog racing
industry in Ireland, writes John Mooney.
Raymond OHanlon, a consultant with Preferred Results, has initiated
proceedings in the High Court against the greyhound board over comments
made by its representatives about the reliability of his report, which
highlighted how the industry was overbreeding 6,000 dogs annually.
Preferred Results was paid 115,000 in consultancy fees to produce the
report, which concluded the greyhound racing industry was at risk due to
unacceptable animal welfare practices and overbreeding. The report found
the sector was losing millions of euros every year because owners were
overbreeding and investing in pups that were later culled, or sold below
cost in Britain.
The figures quoted by OHanlon were based on data provided by the Irish
Coursing Club Stud Book and the IGBs own race management system.
The IGB received the report in 2017 but chose not to publish it, stating that
it contained commercially sensitive information. The IGB did not adopt the
findings of the report, although it later described them as thought
provoking but impractical to implement.
OHanlon alleges his professionalism was called into question by the IGB
after extracts from the confidential document were leaked to RTE
Investigates and featured in Running for their Lives, a documentary that
was broadcast last year.
The programme provoked public outrage after footage of young healthy
greyhounds being killed at abattoirs was broadcast. Animal welfare
organisations urged the government to withdraw funding from the sector,
which receives 16.8m in annual subventions.
The IGB subsequently alleged the figures quoted by OHanlon were not
based on empirical evidence.
The IGB further alleged his figures were inaccurate and based on
guesstimates, or estimates.
OHanlon confirmed he had initiated legal proceedings against the IGB but
declined to comment further. The IGB said it had not received any
documentation regarding a case involving OHanlon.

@johnmooneyst

The Preferred Results report was commissioned in 2017 by Sean Brady. This report provided the data that allowed the powers in RTE to go ahead with RTE investigates program in 2019 which had a disastrous effect on the greyhound industry.

At the time people were scratching their heads as to how a husband and wife team of consultants based in Longford could have got consultancy work to the value of 115,000 from a commercial semi-state body. The irony is that the greyhound track in Longford could still be open if they had received a fraction of the 115,000 that the IGB spent on this report.

There is no doubt that Sean Brady and Raymond O'Hanlon had a history in business together as evidenced by the positive reference made by Sean Brady that is still on the Preferred Results website today.

EXTERNAL LINK

In fact Raymond O'Hanlon was director of a company that secured the continued survival of Cappoquin Chickens by the High Court in 2012 when the new directors of the company [were] Dr. Sean Brady, Mr. Eddy Keane, Mr. Paddy Meaney and Mr. Raymond O'Hanlon as per the link to the 2012 RTE article below.

EXTERNAL LINK

Was the tendering process for this consultancy work ever examined by the Department of Agriculture who are responsible for the greyhound industry?

And it seems that this is not the only legal case against the IGB coming down the track

Salary of 119,000
He claims the process lacks independence and he has a contractual entitlement to have the matters investigated by an external independent third party. He fears the process could result in him losing his 119,000 a year plus allowances job with the defendant and that his reputation will be damaged. As a result of the disciplinary process against him, Mr Murnane, who has been out on sick leave for some time, wants various court orders, including an injunction preventing the IGB continuing with the disciplinary hearing against him.

EXTERNAL LINK

Another IGB chief financial officer away from his desk on paid leave for months and months its just another case of history repeating

If this is not done then history would suggest that the IGB will settle the Preferred Results court case at the expense of Irish greyhound owners and breeders.

The questions that should be asked are as follows;

The IGB had used Indecon for 2 major reports prior to the Preferred Results report. Indecon had years of experience analysing the greyhound industry. Were Indecon asked to quote for this project.

Many greyhound people have told me that the IGB threw this report in the bin upon receiving it. So who in the IGB authorised the payment of 115,000 to Preferred Results.

Were the Department of Agriculture aware of the decision to award this project to Preferred Results?

Procurement practices are subject to audit and scrutiny under the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993, and the Local Government Reform Act 2014, and Accounting Officers are publicly accountable for expenditure incurred.
Who was the Accounting Officer responsible for authorising the 115,000 payment to Preferred Results?

When risk is being considered with respect to procurement, contracting authorities should ensure that risk is assessed in relation to each category of goods and services.
Did anyone in a position of power access the risk to the greyhound industry in terms of commissioning on a report that provided data that could be used by the different groups that want the sport of greyhound racing closed down.

EXTERNAL LINK

The clock is ticking on this issue as this report was commissioned in 2017 and the appropriate records should be maintained by the contracting authority throughout the purchasing process and beyond for a minimum of three years. Records should provide an audit trail of the reasons for making a particular procurement decision.

If Preferred Results legal action against the IGB results in another pay day then it would make this report the most expensive in the history of Irish business - 115k + whatever he gets from the court case + the damage it caused to the industry.

Consequently it is vital that the greyhound owners and breeders act now this is an opportunity for both IGOBFs to come together and fight this legal action against your sport.

Regards,

Kieran

2018 ----- 521,364
2017 ----- 654,675
2016 ----- 712,976
2015 ----- 1,443,727
2014 ----- 587,528
====================
TOTAL----- 3,920,270
====================

The 2019 Annual Report has not been published yet which I suppose is not surprising considering their CFO is on paid leave pending another court case.

GUBU

For 4 Million you could stage thirteen thousand such events at 300 a pop added money.

"Irish Greyhound Board runs into trouble over report
John Mooney
Sunday August 30 2020, 12.01am, The Sunday Times"

I cant possibly comment on the detail of the Irish situation. But I can address the principle of overbreeding, not least because we went through that same exercise following industry reviews by people once-removed from the racing game.

At the time the theory was that less breeding would reduce the incidence of post-career euthanasia a social concern.

The problems were that (a) breeding numbers had been in slow decline for years anyway unnoticed by reviewers, (b) administrators had continued to add more races even though dog numbers were insufficient to staff them and (c) live baiting sagas in 2015 (justifiably penalised) had further cut back breeding and it has not recovered to this day. The market reacted to a perceived undesirable environment.

In other words, most of the attention went to racing when the real issue was what to do with unrequired dogs whether too slow or too old.

While there was some attention to re-homing programs and the like, the major change was to downgrade much of the product eg by adding more races for slow dogs. Coincidentally or not, this has been accompanied by an increase in the proportion of mug gamblers funding the industry and resultant distortions to betting patterns.

On all counts, this has resulted in the degradation of the product. The top ranks are fine but the rest is an indeterminate mixture. In particular, the proportion of ultra-short races is continuously rising as the newcomers often runts of the litter - are not capable of handling longer races (ie 500m and up, or even 450m).

So the alleged overbreeding ended up with all the attention while racing got bogged down with all the unintended consequences, including a long list of new and costly regulations.

Certainly, there have been some useful changes: more restrictions on breeding with aging and less productive dams and stricter whole-of-life tracking, for example. But, in exchange, we have got a motley mixture of often unbettable races which are still starting with lots of empty boxes.

And still untested is the legality of any restriction on breeding numbers (ie restraint of trade etc). There has been no suggestion whatever that similar rules should apply to horses or other dog breeds. Quite the reverse, in fact.

The upshot is that breeding numbers are best left to market forces. They will impact more quickly and more efficiently that any government-imposed rules. Overbreeding is a furphy.