At Greyhound Racing NSW the welfare of our animals is paramount, and their safety on our racetracks is an area we have poured many resources into in recent times.
Whether it be major track rebuilds like we saw at the new, magnificent Grafton track, upgrades from non-TAB to TAB standard as we did with Taree and Wauchope last year, and as we are about to embark on at Muswellbrook, or bringing every track in NSW up to the minimum standards which have been put in place, making all of our tracks safer is our priority.
But it's not just at our racing venues. I'm very pleased to report that GRNSW will also this year assist greyhound training centres to implement safety upgrades at the trial tracks which support public trialling.
GRNSW is currently working with training track operators at Redhead, Cudal, Cessnock and Thirlmere.
Initial plans will see work undertaken in coming months at Redhead (to upgrade the trial tracks lure return system), Cessnock (to upgrade lure rail and lure system and repair the track) and Thirlmere (to remediate track, upgrade lure rail and lure system, starting boxes, and outside fencing).
Tim's new adventure
He was Sydney's premier race caller for seven years, calling countless Group 1s and feature races at Wentworth Park, as well as being behind the microphone at tracks such as Dapto and Richmond, and of course is the only race caller to have called the world's richest greyhound race, the TAB Million Dollar Chase, but this week Tim Newbold began a new adventure and challenge in a different field, working with Greyhound Racing NSW.
Tim will be our Club Engagement Officer and will be working with Chief Operating Officer Wayne Billett in managing the race clubs around the State.
A double at Dubbo
Congratulations to Graham Pickering who trained a double at Dubbo on the weekend. Graham is the president of the Coonamble club which lost its traditional October Carnival last year due to COVID-19, but he's very hopeful the event will be able to go ahead in 2021.
The week of the Coonamble Carnival, which sees visitors come from around the country, generates more than $2.5 million into the local community.
Smashing records
And still on congratulations in racing, well done to the syndicate who own smart young greyhound Bandit Ned. The Jodie Lord-trained dog brought up win number eight from just nine starts winning at Nowra on July 12, and for good measure, smashed the track record with a 29.38s. He must surely be in the mix for the TAB Million Dollar Chase.
This article was produced as part of an ACM partnership with Greyhound Racing NSW.
