Gunnedah Greyhound Club will undergo a major transformation in the coming months and swap out the existing grass running surface for sand.
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The move is set to breathe new life into the sport in Gunnedah, attracting more patrons, more dogs and more prizemoney to the North West than ever before.
What’s more, the estimated $60,000 pricetag for sand conversion is a relative steal compared to some quotes fielded by Greyhound Breeders Owners and Trainers Association (GBOTA) chairman and Gunnedah club President, Geoff Rose.
“The last quote I got professionally was $520,000,” Rose said yesterday.
“That’s a big drop but in saying that there’s a lot of voluntary hours to go into it to get it to that price.”
All track turf will be uprooted in mid-January next year and replaced by 700 tonne of locally sourced and carefully balanced, sand.
“The sand comes from a local bloke, so that’s going to be a massive saving for us,” he said.
“The costs involved if we got it from down south, you’re talking $80,000 just in sand alone.
“It will be a red clay based sand and so far every test we’ve done on it has turned up absolutely beautiful, perfect.
“It (dog track) sand is one which you have to have it dead right; you can’t have it too loose or too hard because dogs injure themselves and we don’t want that.”
Rose said the change to a sand track has many benefits for the club including the ability to race more often on a year-round roster.
“In summer there’s a good growing period but if you’re racing a lot over winter, there’s no growth in the grass,” he said.
“At the moment it’s looking beautiful but up until a fortnight ago there was no growth there at all and you still have to race over that time as well.”
The sand conversion he added, will also provide the platform for the highly lucrative TAB race meets.
All going to plan, Rose hopes to secure 52 race meets annually for the local track with the backing of the state’s governing body, Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW).
He said the move to sand will greatly improve his odds on this front.
“I think this is a stepping stone to TAB and I believe this venue in Gunnedah will be TAB by the end of the financial year next year,” he said.
“You need sand racing for TAB – all TAB tracks in NSW bar one will be sand by Christmas.
“They like it because you can race on it all the time, you can control the density of the sand and maintain the track to which is safe for the animal.
“I have no doubt you’ll get some class dogs up here.”
The shift to sand has been a long time coming for Rose and local track staff – more than a decade in fact. Now having been given the green light by the GBOTA board and GRNSW to proceed with their grand sand plans, you couldn’t wipe the smile from Rose’s face if you tried.
“I’ve been trying to get a TAB track and sand track in this area for 12 years,” he said.
“I’ve had a lot of opposition from around the area, but it’s finally here, it’s going to happen.
“I thought it was going to happen sooner, before Christmas, but I’m not going to whinge about another couple of months after waiting 12 years.”
The club will continue with its scheduled race meets, about two a month, through to early next year, while phasing in the new track infrastructure to complement the sand surface.
“I thought we might be able to get onto it straight away but the problem is if we did, we wouldn’t have any racing because the other clubs aren’t racing,” he said.
“I’ve got two meetings coming up and if they’re called off, there’s no racing for two to three weeks.”
With all systems in place, Rose said it is a bright future for the greyhound industry in the region. Now it is a matter of securing the all important TAB agreement with hopes of even a Friday night twilight race meeting.
“The future is TAB racing,” he said.
“My ambition is to get 52 TAB dates per year and race on a (televised) timeslot which is acceptable to Greyhound Racing NSW and also Sky Channel TAB. The problem is the slots are drying up and there are only a certain number of spots available.
“I’d love to see Friday twilight here which is about a 4pm start, finishing at about 9-10pm, which would be a great afternoon because
most people are finishing work and looking to relax.”
The first Gunnedah race meet on the sand track will be February 20.
