The Mount Gambier Greyhound Racing Club (MGGRC), which currently conducts race meetings twice-weekly on Thursday and Sunday afternoons at Tara Raceway, could soon be running extra meetings at its Lake Terrace East venue.
This was announced at last week’s Industry Engagement Forum (IEF) by Greyhound Racing South Australia (GRSA) Chief Executive Officer Brenton Scott who said greyhound racing’s controlling body was keen to reward SA areas that were doing well.
“With the MGGRC averaging 11.5 races a meeting and nominations averaging approximately 6.5 dogs a race, we believe the club is well placed to run additional meetings at Tara Raceway,” he said.
“Really, it’s a case of coming up with the right racing scheduling whereby all greyhounds, despite their ability, can be given an equal opportunity to continue racing.
“I believe we need to run more SA-bred feature events. And this would also include the south-east which I know has been running age-restricted classics at Tara Raceway for a number of years.”
Mr Scott also said the future of SA greyhound racing looked to be in six-dog racing given the downturn in breeding Australia-wide.
Not surprisingly, the main topic of the night was the re-homing of greyhounds.
“For sure, we need a bigger re-homing footprint in the south-east,” Mr Scott said. “Clearly we’re not doing enough down here with our Greyhounds As Pets (GAP) program and that needs to be turned around.”
Also representing GRSA at Mount Gambier’s IEF were Grantley Stevens (Chair), Ben Kavanagh (Chief Operating Officer), Heath Pocock (Chief Financial Officer) and Derek Kordick (Risk and Compliance).
And they were also able to check out first-hand the major clubroom renovations currently being undertaken at Tara Raceway.
Mount Gambier was the first of the IEF road shows, followed by Gawler on Friday, November 1; Murray Bridge, Wednesday, November 13 and Angle Park, Wednesday, November 20.
All registered participants – trainers, owners and breeders – had been invited to attend the one of the forums as GRSA looks at the current challenges and plans ahead for the future.
South Australia’s first on-site Greyhound Education Circuit (GEC) has now opened at the Murray Bridge track. The GEC is expected to serve as a valuable resource in the training process for industry participants.
Work on a second GEC will commence at the Mount Gambier complex in early 2025. It will complement the slipping track area and give trainers access to galloping and education facilities.
Meanwhile, locally owned and trained Bourne Model gave plenty of cheek in last week’s $14,275 Leigh Rogers Memorial final (530 metres) at Angle Park when finishing a 1¾ length third behind He’s Magic and Scary Eyes in 30.69 seconds.
Bourne Model is trained by David Peckham who races the daughter of Feral Franky and Sweet On Me in partnership with Christine Yourgules, Kevin Patzel and Kevin Douglas. Peckham included the trio in the ownership in appreciation of their support at his Allendale East-based Bourne Kennels.
A winner of 21 races, Sweet On Me is a daughter of Barcia Bale and Call Me Gee. In August she whelped her third litter – three dogs and four bitches to McInerney.