The Sunday Afternoon “Finish On”

THE vision of animal mistreatment in South Australia released last week was appalling and it comes at a time when greyhound racing must stand up for itself.

Fortunately, Greyhound Racing SA, the NSW Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission and Greyhound Racing Victoria have fully supported SA Premier Peter Malinauskas' decision to have an independent inquiry into the greyhound racing industry.

And that comes at a time when GWIC will have their world-first eTracking system in place to precisely account for every racing greyhound, greyhound welfare code of practice, race injury reduction strategies and new rehoming pathways are all proof that the industry puts the welfare of it greyhounds as its highest priority.

"While this progress is hugely positive, we cannot afford to be complacent, and we all need to work together to ensure that those in the minority who behave badly or in an unlawful manner do not irreparably damage the sport for all," GWIC Chief Executive Steve Griffin said.

Back in 2016, the McHugh report was relied on by the Baird Government in NSW to legislate for the closure of greyhound racing at a time when no data was available to refute lies from anti greyhound racing elements.

Those lies continue to this day and the data GWIC collects will see the McHugh-like lies dispelled.

Earlier this month, GWIC hosted executives from all Australian states and Greyhound Racing New Zealand to showcase eTracking and, without hesitation, Queensland and New Zealand have agreed to take on the project.

The collection of data is critically important but there are two other aspects to welfare and integrity which must have full focus.

In the first instance, more needs to be done to protect the good name of greyhound racing.

The awful truth of what happened in South Australia last week cannot be brushed aside yet the entire industry cannot be tarnished or held to account by the actions of a rogue element.

Participants have an active role to play and must report any unlawful or inappropriate activity. Every participant is responsible to each other and no one should turn a blind eye.

Vision from South Australia resonated across the globe and accelerated the tone of anti-racing entities.

Their lies have been foisted on general public without a filter and it's beyond frustrating that an organisation like Greyhounds Australasia has not batted back the untruths and appears to have no strategy to do so.

Just on three years back, Greyhound Clubs Australia commissioned a PR firm to formalize a strategy to push back against animal welfare lobbyists and activists.

The 16-page brief was expertly put together and had a framework to address the exact circumstance greyhound racing faces today was in hand.

The report sought to regain control of the narrative by:

» Presenting facts in a sensible way that makes sense to mainstream Australia.

» Create positive messages targeted at key markets.

» Build trust with the public and all stakeholders.

GCA, I'm advised, attempted to have GA champion the concept but it did not get to first base!

Just how the GA executive could dismiss such a terrific initiative defies belief.

This week, frustrated by inaction at a regulatory level, prominent industry participant Sandro Bechini initiated a Facebook group called "Countering Lies About Greyhound Racing".

Participants will see this as a positive initiate to collate the lies which are being promoted on social media and in the press but this should not have been Sandro's role.

Good on him for being proactive but what does it say about GA and other regulatory entities.

GCA would have surely been affronted that their hard work was absolutely dismissed when, right now, greyhound racing could have been ahead of the game and not under siege.

GET ON BOARD

While on GWIC's new eTrac digital portal, switchover date is November 1 and all greyhound participants need to be registered on the system.

The new system facilitates quick, easy and secure online transactions 24/7, gives participants direct access to their greyhound information online, including health records, will include a mobile app and has an integrated support feature for real-time assistance from GWIC staff.

eTrac delivers world-first technology through a single and secure system with ease of use for all greyhound industry participants.

In addition, eTrac will allow GWIC to monitor and record the whereabouts of every registered greyhound in New South Wales, ensuring the highest standards of animal welfare, more robust and efficient racing operations, and even greater confidence in the sport.

While the switchover date might be 12 weeks away, after which older systems will be retired, it is important to register early so that GWIC staff can assist with any questions about the new portal and avoid any disruption to services.

GWIC staff will be at tracks to help participants register for the eTrac portal and available to help participants register on eTrac.

TOO SHORT

Much ado this week, in NSW, about the decision by GRNSW to cease conducting races at The Gardens over 272m.

The 272m start was not part of the master plan for The Gardens with the boxes utilised being in place for rarely-run 715m contests.

Following the failed prize money equalisation program (across all distances) a few years back, the incidence of short course racing grew exponentially.

The 300m start at Casino was introduced, 297m races at Dapto became the norm rather than an exception, a proliferation of 280m races at WP, 314m at Taree, even a 259m scamper at (the now defunct) Lismore came into play.

Aside from ‘churn', not one has a positive impact on the racing product and the high incidence of injury has been the rationale behind the cessation at The Gardens.

No doubt individuals will be aggrieved yet GRNSW has the best interests of industry to attend to and the Victorian model is a case in point.

Down south, Cranbourne has been out of play for an extended period and that makes the shortest ‘circle' racing distance in Victoria is 350m at Traralgon.

With Cranbourne out of play (where 311m races were commonplace) , GRV has not been pressed use the ‘700m' boxes at Sandown or The Meadows for short course events and they never should.

Injuries statistics are irrefutable and the white noise coming from trainers who demand the return of racing over 272m must be ignored.

OUT OF FORM

Just over two weeks back, the NSW TAB had a real glitch with their agency and Pub TAB wall sheets for greyhound racing.

No longer was a dog trained at Londonderry in NSW, Lara In Victoria, Churchable or WA's Nambeelup for example but ‘Australia' was the kennel location.

The data was not compromised for the gallopers or harness racing yet the IT boffins' fix only lasted a day or two and "Australia" was back in play.

And it's not only the wall sheets which fails to cut the mustard for punters at Tabcorp.

The "Long Form" supplied on the TAB app for greyhound racing has a fatal flaw.

Take for example a meeting at Ipswich on Saturday night and suggested personal best of Rusa Range in Race 2.

Rusa Range was promoted to have run 30.77 at Ipswich yet the time was, in fact, run at Albion Park on July 3 when on debut … 30.77 at Ipswich is a very different form reference than the same time at Albion Park, it's chalk and cheese!

All dogs for all meetings are similarly disaffected so Dapto's 520m times will be promoted at Wentworth Park as will the times at Richmond at the same trip.

No punter in this land would consider WP's 520m to be equal to Dapto times.

Would the gallop punters be happy with Flemington's 1200m run down the straight be rated, in terms of time, the same as the 1200m at Moonee Valley?

Quality control has failed badly at Tabcorp and the fix cannot come quickly enough.

Kennel location might not dissuade a punter but the PB times are critical and there is another shortcoming which greyhound racing form supplies must attend to.

Since the GRNSW decommissioned its old website, the prevailing wind condition at Capalaba (noted previously atop every race result) has been lost.

Wind velocity can make up for 7 lengths (of .50 sec) difference at Capalaba and it's going to be much the same at Richmond, Healesville and Mount Gambier.

Capalaba's management has sought to have the wind factor returned to the website but have not had any positive response from GRNSW which manage the website's back end.

MORE BREAKING WIND

Friday's Southern Stars program at Goulburn was a beauty yet the day turned a little dank around mid-afternoon.

The early part of the 12-race program had winds of up to 60kpm coming from the north west and times for the five Zoom Top heats were disaffected.

NZ import Big Daddy sizzled in his Southern Stars win, running the day's best 24.52 but the wind, at race nine, was not half of the factor it was an hour earlier.

We're wild about daddy cool!

Big Daddy takes the @ladbrokescomau Southern Stars ✨ Final to Victoria, with a scorching 24.52 win from Screaming Jet and Royal Nangar.

Full Results: https://t.co/GBzTXQvyz9#thedogs #southernstars @GRV_News @WatchDogRacing @goulburngrc pic.twitter.com/fn2i4INkk7

— The Dogs (@Thedogs_com_au) July 28, 2023

The son of Fernando Bale – which is owned in the same interest as Postman Pat – arrived on these shores with nine wins from 14 starts including smart 29.87 effort at Christchurch.

He's headed for higher honors and clashes with Postman Pat loom large.

REST WELL

Another ex-Pat Kiwi saluted on the weekend and win 42 (at start 92) will be the last for Pedro Lee.

The son of Aston Dee Bee has been a great money spinner for Greg Hore and his win at Richmond on Saturday morning suggested he's not feeling his age but ‘Hypo' has called time on the black's dog's career.

On Wednesday, the vastly experienced owner-trainer had less luck at Wentworth Park with the smart Monster Mel finishing fourth – six lengths away – over 720m when a $1.85 chance.

The winner's time (a very slow 42.70) tells part of the story yet the oversight of stewards failed every aspect of protecting the punter.

Monster Mel had been super impressive in wins at Dapto (600m) and Nowra (630m) leading into this 720m essay but her lack of thrust in the early stages was stark.

Stewards, however, morphed Sergeant Shultz and their post meeting report asserted only that (winner) Hit Top Gear and Cassie Cool (a pre-race decision) were swabbed – while no racing incidents whatsoever were noted.

There is no suggestion that Monster Mel contravened any rule of racing but, surely, a veterinary examination or a quiet chat to Greg about the effort was needed.