Sunday, April 26, 2020

With TAB clients appearing to have been unprepared for a shift to digital wagering platforms when the COVID-19 restrictions were introduced, the Greyhound Racing SA board has resolved that changes will be implemented from May 1.

Significantly, GRSA management team members will accept a 20% reduction in remunerable hours while all standard graded meeting payments to winners and placegetters will reduce by 15%.

However, the current allocation of travel fees for trainers and starter fee payments will remain unaffected as will SA-Bred payments with the exception of the maiden winner bonus which will reduce from $1000 to $500.

And feature race top-ups, the finals of which are set down to be run in the 2021 financial year, will reduce by the equivalent of $200,000 annually.

These changes are intended as temporary measures, with GRSA also aiming to gradually return to a full schedule of eight weekly race meetings as state border restrictions are lifted and racing numbers improve.

Meanwhile, Greyhound Racing Victoria has announced that it will increase the number of “hybrid” race meetings from Friday, June 7 in a move that it hopes will better utilise the current active greyhound racing population.

“Hybrid” meetings allow for greyhounds of lesser ability to compete against greyhounds of a similar level for full stakes prizemoney.

The new 275+ rank limit events will be programmed at Healesville, Warragul, Ballarat, Cranbourne, Shepparton, Bendigo and Geelong.

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