Rex Nairn admits he will be a nervous man this Friday when his club, the Hastings River Greyhound Club at Wauchope host their first full TAB meeting. But amid that nervousness will be a very proud man.
“This is the real one this week,” Nairn, the club’s president said referring to the meeting they staged last Saturday, which, despite having TAB coverage, was still a country meeting.
“I was so nervous on Saturday it felt like I was playing my first game of golf. And I will be too on Friday, but I’ll be so proud of everyone who has worked tirelessly over the years to make this happen.
“This is the one we have been waiting a long, long time for. I must admit there were times I thought we may never get here, but we have. Finally we’re there, we’re a TAB track.”
Wauchope, like Taree earlier this year, was granted TAB status by Greyhound Racing NSW, to fill a void of TAB racing on the Mid North Coast.
“It’s funny, I actually wrote a big paper back in 2008 to GRNSW suggesting that we needed a TAB track up here. It’s great to now have TAB racing in this region, and the participants have really embraced it.”
The club hosted a 10-race card on Saturday morning, and the track - which has undergone significant work to bring it up to TAB standard - looked in tremendous shape and raced accordingly.
“I have to thank everyone who has worked on the track, returfing it and getting everything just right. It looks great at the moment,” Nairn said.
“And everybody is excited about this Friday now. I am just waiting for the licencing sergeant to tell me how many people we can have here, but I am hoping we can have at least 200. It will be a great day.”
After gaining TAB status, Wauchope and Taree also secured a sponsorship deal with corporate bookmaker BBet, and the venue now goes by the name of BBet Park Wauchope.
“It’s a wonderful thing for the club to have that sponsorship,” Nairn said. “In the old days, clubs like ours were run on the smell of an oily rag. But that has changed substantially, and you need all the help you can get to keep the club running and running successfully. It was a huge injection of funds for us, and we’re putting the funds to great use for local participants.”
The club has drawn a tremendous card of 10 races for their Friday meeting, with the opening event to run at 12.10pm.
