A: We are very well aware of the abundance of nominations at most venues. I can assure you we don’t have a sudden influx of new trainers, but what you must remember is that we now also have dogs who would have been racing at Non-TAB venues looking to get runs on TAB tracks as well. I think you may also find that originally when we implemented the regional zoning, we conducted just 11 meetings in that first seven days. We have gradually added meetings and tracks, and from next week we will be racing 21-22 times a week, even more than when things were normal, prior to COVID-19. The feeling is that this will help to ease the situation with nominations.
A: While we don’t have performance trials now, the additional kenneling time is beneficial to officials and staff during this time of biosecurity measures and it won’t be changing in the immediate future.
A: Thank you for email and your suggestions. I have mentioned recently that we are looking and working with the GBOTA around plans for Wentworth Park, and will make an announcement when any decision is made. As for the limited outbreaks, this is obviously great news, but you must also have heard that we cannot relax, and that there is a prospect of a second wave and if we don’t stay vigilant, especially with WINTER coming, we could face new challenges. Of course we don’t want to see our good dogs go interstate, but I do understand the choices trainers and owners want to make. We have tried to help everyone in the industry, by adding prizemoney where we can, introducing new series such as the Ladbrokes Super Series announced today, and racing at more venues and with more meetings. Our hope is that these dogs heading interstate now, will return to NSW when the opportunity arrives. As for the boxing of dogs, again thank you for your suggestion, and as I mentioned recently, the boxing of greyhounds before the races is a new process that has been adopted in all other jurisdictions. GRNSW and GWIC will work with clubs to ensure starters perform this role as efficiently as possible. For the time being the current process will continue. I haven’t been through the statistics as closely as I am sure you have, and do not doubt what you are saying, but I quickly looked at Dapto last night, and found that in six of the 10 races, either 1 or the 5 led. As you again pointed out, we have a long way to go, and we will continue to make sure that greyhound racing in NSW gets through this pandemic, and can be a sustainable and viable industry on the other side of COVID-19.
A: I think I covered this off a couple of days ago, but again, when it was decided to add another track to the Northern Rivers region, the feedback we received prior to that decision, from participants, was that Lismore was the preferred track to reopen. As we have shown in recent weeks we have been able to allow additional clubs to race. Casino is not the only club in the State not racing, and as I have stated, we are working on being able to resume racing to its full capacity over time. In terms of works at the Grafton track, the DA process is progressing well and once complete we will look to commence work immediately.
A: Thank you for your email. For the present time we must continue to limit the number of people we have on the racetracks. Let’s not forget there are still restrictions in place in many other industries, and the one that springs to mind is that attendees at a funeral are limited to just 10 people. I understand your plight, and urge all other participants to help out your fellow trainers in these times, with things such as catching dogs.
A: For starters don’t believe every Rumour you hear. Everyone in our industry from the GRNSW staff, to GWIC staff, to race club staff, are all extremely busy as we all try to keep the industry going under exceptional circumstances. And everyone, especially the participants, are doing a tremendous job. We wanted to have three meetings in that Western Region each week during this last schedule, and made the choices we made. As I mentioned we are now racing 21-22 times a week, more than we would under normal circumstances and this of course takes resources. We continue to look at how things are working and if changes are required, we will make them.
