In my humblest opinion GRNSW have failed to provide trainers and owners with a truly long term solution. In fact many will question why and how such a decision could have been made. I know personally as a owner/trainer nobody from within GRNSW asked any trainers to provide feed back as to what we may want a straight track facility to look like.

Firstly, the starting boxes. At 340 metres this is an extremely long distance for dogs to race over. Old trainers will tell you, the old 366m at Appin was equivalent to running 500-600 metres. Why, would we not scale any box distances to those in other states regarding straight tracks? It is an extremely poor oversight. An article from the greyhound recorder stipulated they may place boxes at the 380 metre mark. Surely this has to be a good old laugh.

Secondly, the track surface. Grass. If it was not so true you could laugh, but sadly this is no laughing matter. I'd like Tony Mestrov to explain his view on this. Grass tracks are for the dark ages. And although myself personally I have enjoyed grass tracks in the past. I truly think no place exists for them anymore. Wauchope has suffered some extremely high deaths and casualties since turning to a tab track and it is grass. The circumference of the track also is an issue. All this so called top class planning and development. And yet Londonderry is known for extreme heat in Summer, and bitterly cold winters with fog and frost. How will the surface survive long term?

My point is a simple one. If GRNSW and the GBOTA had half a brain, then Appin would have been discussed more rigorously, however that is not the case. And sadly all it's history and nostalgia continues to just be a memory. It was once a haven for fantastic betting and racing every Saturday morning.

The last thing Richmond needed was another race date, it is clearly overloaded with racing at present and evident with Wentworth Park having an expiry date, that we desperately need a City class venue somewhere in the South West corridor of Sydney that provides 300m, 400m, 500m , 600m and 700m boxes. Lets hope the next time GRNSW get it right.

I agree with you re need for a city class track in the South West corridor of Sydney, down near Campbelltown and close to the freeway, but catering only for distances NOT ON BEND STARTS

I also agree with you regarding the grass surface of the straight track at Richmond, it should be sand to be complying with the majority of other surfaces in NSW

Not sure what the long term plans are for Appin but probably will be sold to real estate developers for housing

I don't agree with you re the distance being too long. You have to remember Appin had a constant uphill grade to it, thus was a very testing run from the 366m boxes, but it didn't do dogs any harm. Richmond looks pretty flat to me.

340m on a flat grass track is not a big ask, IMHO and should push on to a 370-380m distance as well

It's just another poor example of how badly we get to decisions here regarding racing in NSW. Lets be honest Murray Bridge straight track will be better than Richmond.

They don't have to be champions to run 380m in a straight line

But its a run that that will entice dogs getting ready for 500m racing to race in, as part of their conditioning process or 450m-550m race dogs to race on to get a break from the circle track and be reasonably competitive

Healesville is 300m and 350m - uphill

Not sure about the Murray Bridge slope..but its 300m and 350m and looks slightly uphill

Rod,

Historically, most racing decisions in NSW - particularly the straight tracks - have been made by GBOTA and NCA, not GRA/GRNSW. In GBOTA's case it is also a prime sponsor of additional 300m racing on circle tracks. In neither case was proper consideration given to the costs and benefits to the overall industry - instead they catered to whichever group of trainers was making the most noise.

Remember that for decades the two clubs dominated all thinking (and membership) of the NSW board. (Albeit, Mike Ahrens of NCA eventually quit in disgust).

GRA/GRNSW, as an entity, has always failed to measure up to its real responsibilities. Even McHugh realised that.

NB: GBOTA gets a prominent mention in the current GRNSW Strategic Plan even though it is just a club. GBOTA members comprise only about one third of all NSW trainers. GBOTA also led the charge of the Alliance which pushed the revolt against Baird (good) but then failed to tone down the punitive sections of the Reform Panel report (bad). Its leader, having failed to achieve a spot in NSW offialdom, decamped to Queensland where he now occupies a prominent position in RQ.

Once a bureaucrat, always a bureaucrat.

I've failed to mention G.W.I.C and the continued so called line of dog welfare, yet nothing from them in relation to arguing the point of the track needing to be loam. It's not a generalisation if South Australia and Victoria have straight tracks that are loam. It's nothing short of an embarrassment that a premier state like us , decided the best outcome was a grass track.

It's a failed outcome and leaves participants shaking their head. Steve Noyce has not ruled out elevating Appin back to having meetings. That comes direct from his mouth. Feel free to contact him.

Grafton is receiving a remedial facelift at a time when it was very much needed. Wauchope is the next track requiring re-alignment of the running rail and being turned to loam. Significant deaths have occurred on the track since turning to a T.A.B venue.

Mark Wilcox has also eluded to the problem of a arm lure on a grass track, a point I had not mentioned either. Once again, any studies under taken from GRNSW or GWIC in relation to any of these possible outcomes, and if so nothing provided to us the participants.

REMEMBER - THREE STINKING YEARS WE WAITED FOR TENURES SUPPOSEDLY TO PLACE APPLICATIONS FOR A STRAIGHT TRACK. AND WHAT IS THE OUTCOME, ALONG WITH A 40 MILLION WAR CHEST PROVIDED TO IMPROVE TRACKS STATE WIDE WE COME UP WITH A GRASS TRACK AND A ARM LURE AND ONE SET OF BOXES.

THE WHOLE THING STINKS TO HIGH HEAVEN!!

Your second point about grass, you have to be joking about it. It's the best form of surface to race on; that's why most thoroughbreds race on it. They only go synthetic, oil based dirt, etc, here in Australia because they don't want to lose race meetings. Loam is supposed to be all weather, but races are called off, for those types of tracks as well. It's most probably the same around the world e.g. Kawasaki Horse Races. I'd hate to be a horse in Japan at Kawasaki Races. They'd have to be breathing in all those sand particles (sandstorm comes to mind), just like our dogs when they're racing. You hardly get those things down the throat of your dogs when racing on grass. It's a great alternative and we only went loam so that we didn't lose races due to inclement weather.

You mentioned Wauchope without statistics and failed to compare other grass tracks and loam tracks in your argument. Taree is grass, Capalaba and Bundaberg are grass. Where is your argument about death rates, etc for those grass tracks.

Your first point, 340m is a long distance to race over? Up the straight and no incline? It wouldn't be a 500m comparison. Wyong was a great track and guess what? It was grass. Wauchope, Cessnock and Taree are very good grass tracks. I watch Capalaba and Bundaberg Racing and they are good too.

I'll take a risk and generalise.

For donkey's years we have been listening to the same old debates about grass v loam. It's long since been not worth the effort.

Grass is dead. Loam is the winner. That will never change so relax and enjoy it.

The current deal needs a bit of clarification.

The Richmond effort was not an initiative of GRNSW. In their usual fashion they just followed someone making the most noise. In this case that was UTS reporting that straight track racing was better because it produced fewer injuries. So GRNSW automatically sent out a query asking who would like to take part. Apparently, Richmond was the only club putting its hand up.

The thing to remember is that the UTS unit is geared to address safety as number one. Everything else must battle for a distant second place, including strategic thinking about the structure and operation of greyhound racing, to say nothing about an appreciation of how individual dogs behave.

That can be handled providing its advice is merged with all the other factors involved in the racing industry where UTS has no experience or expertise. UTS will offer some good stuff and some not so good (pushing the close drop-in boxes at Horsham and Shepparton are examples - they work poorly and they increase operating costs).

So that's my second generalisation: anything said by UTS or GRNSW must be put through a filter.

To be fair, a lot of stuff attributed to UTS was actually no more than proposals to run tests to see if something worked.

As for lures - both arm lures and drag lures are in operation but I am not aware of any definitive studies which show one is better than the other and I have no personal expertise or data.

However, I can see that Capalaba still has the bones of a rail/arm lure system in situ but has abandoned it in favour of a centre drag lure (on grass). When I last visited the club said it had no intention of changing back. At Wyong (grass) they did not really have the option as they were tenants intruding on thoroughbred ground. Appin (grass) was (is) wide open ground so the question of an arm lure did not really come up - but GBOTA making a quid did.

But thank heavens we are at last getting some straight track racing back into the NSW system. Long overdue.

Bob,

The biggest casualty was Singleton which had plenty of needs and problems but was strategically placed in a wealthy town (sky-high average incomes) and serviced a huge area of the state by offering TAB access to many distant big and small towns. But NCA dumped it. In reality, it was far more important to the overall effort than places like Temora, Wauchope and Taree etc where other options existed.

Incidentally, it is hard to see how Grafton/Casino/Lismore will fill the proposed 156 meetings p.a. when they are flat out looking after 104 now - the bulk of them involving ultra-short trips. And that's without considering how Border Park will intrude - if and when.