Saturday, July 11, 2020
Greyhound Racing SA Chief Executive Officer Matt Corby, in Mount Gambier on Wednesday for a stakeholders’ meeting at Tara Raceway, said he believed a positive outcome had been achieved.
“I was really grateful that the Mount Gambier Greyhound Racing Club was able to bring together such numbers in a short period of time. I thought it was a highly constructive discussion and all very positive, especially given the challenges the club is currently facing.”
Primarily, the CEO was in Mount Gambier to discuss a proposed new model for stakemoney distribution at SA greyhound tracks.
“And while I stand to be corrected, I would say that stakeholders at the meeting, in principle, were generally supportive of the proposed stakemoney model.
“However, stakeholders also believed that GRSA needed to identify a transitional version for the period ahead which insulated them against the various uncertain elements that could negatively affect wagering in the months/year ahead,” he said.
Other issues to be discussed at Wednesday’s meeting included how GRSA could support the MGGRC while the Victorian border remains closed, the freeing-up of kennel space via the Greyhound Adoption Program (GAP) and the checking of greyhounds in Mount Gambier on a monthly basis.
Also raised was the running of this year’s Mount Gambier Cup, originally set down to be conducted in early April but thrown into total disarray long before that due to COVID-19 along with the intra-state and border restrictions that came with it.
GRSA Racing Manager Shaun Mathieson, who after the announcement that the SA-Victoria border would re-open on July 20, pencilled in August 23 and 30 for this year’s Mount Gambier Cup, said on Friday that these dates would stand.
“Despite the change in border restrictions, I can confirm that the Mount Gambier Cup series will be run on Sunday, August 23 and Sunday, August 30 with GRSA advertising and promoting the event. The first two race meetings of the month will be run on Thursdays,” he said.
This year will mark the 40th running of the Mount Gambier Cup (512 metres), to be sponsored by David Peckham’s Bourne Kennels of Allendale East.
While this year’s cup will not carry Group Listed status, the winner will still receive a healthy $10,000. And complementing the event will be the Cup Consolation, Produce Store Feature Maiden (512 m), The Tankman 600 (600 m) and Formula 400 (400 m).
Other forthcoming feature events at Tara Raceway include the Tara Trackstar (512 m), for the best performed eight greyhounds at the track between January and June, and the Winter Classic (512 m) for all dogs and bitches whelped on or after July 1, 2018.