Talks Begin To Deliver ‘Gold Standard Industry'

THE board of Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) will initiate a comprehensive round of participant and stakeholder consultation before embarking on record investment in industry infrastructure.

In his first public address since assuming the role as Chairman in September, Adam Casselden told The Greyhound Recorder that the consultation process is step one towards mapping a future that ensures NSW greyhound racing reaches a "gold standard" in every aspect of the industry.    

"It is my vision – and that of the GRNSW Board – that the NSW greyhound racing industry will be the world-leader in every aspect of our business," Casselden said. 

"We must be the gold standard – the best in track safety, the best in animal welfare, the best in rehoming, the best for participants, the best for our fans, and the best product for our wagering partners.

"It is clear that there has never before been so much cooperation amongst industry stakeholders towards a single goal of excellence. With this cooperation, we must act decisively and with unity of purpose.

"We can be, and I am determined that we will be, the best animal racing jurisdiction in the world. The advances over the last few years are materially important, but the acceleration of excellence in the past 12 months sets the scene for a great future.

"We want this to be an industry-wide collaboration, with a view of building consensus with the industry as a whole."

News of a state-wide consultative process to secure industry alignment comes following a recent GRNSW Board Strategy Day where a range of issues and scenarios were discussed.

On the back of that, GRNSW will soon produce an industry discussion paper before a series of face-to-face town hall events are staged by Chairman Adam Casselden and CEO Rob Macaulay.

And while future track infrastructure is paramount, Macaulay said areas such as wagering optimisation, grading, programming, rehoming and race meeting scheduling will all be on the table for discussion as well.

"This is an exciting time for greyhound racing in NSW – we have more races than ever before, more prize money than ever, better rehoming than ever and lower track deaths than ever," Macaulay said.

"The Double Arm Lures are now wanted by every track, and the Greyhound Care Scheme is going well. Now is time to work together to make other improvements across the board, and we're looking forward to that.

"That's what we're about; constant improvement."

With the Taree track rebuild nearing completion and redevelopments still slated for Goulburn, Dapto and Lithgow, GRNSW has a number of projects on the agenda.

On Monday, the NSW Greyhound, Breeders Owners & Trainers Association (GBOTA) released their vision for a new centre of excellence at Orange, having come to an in principle agreement late last year for a parcel of land in the town.

In a move to replace the loss of racing at Bathurst in the region, the GBOTA plan to build a new state-of-the-art venue, funded from the proceeds of the sale of Appin.

To support the project and investment in the area, GRNSW have committed to providing 52 TAB dates for the proposed new venue.