Dark start for greyhounds

Local greyhound fans will go back to watching the action at night after Cranbourne Greyhound Racing Club reported disappointing results from its six-month day trials. 16395

By Stuart Teather
CRANBOURNE’S Monday evening greyhound races will move back to night events after the six-month trial as a twilight meet produced disappointing results.
The Cranbourne and Shepparton Greyhound Racing Clubs swapped racing times in a six-month trial starting in February, but both clubs have reported disappointing on-course and off-course turnover results, according to Greyhound Racing Victoria.
Cranbourne Greyhound Racing Club’s chief executive Tony Wright said the trial significantly affected turnover for the club.
“We saw a 40-50 per cent decrease in attendances, which is very significant, resulting in a downturn in turnover,” he said.
“The Cranbourne Club would like to go back to racing at night and this will give more opportunities for participants and more opportunities for spectators.
“We as a club volunteered to run the swap with Shepparton and did that and as a result we’ve gone back to nights.”
Greyhound Racing Victoria’s Racing, Integrity and Infrastructure department conducted the trial and while manager Bob Smith called the trial ‘inconclusive’, he said his department would continue to monitor the clubs to improve performance.
The races will continue at Cranbourne in the twilight time-slot throughout July and will swap back to nights on 4 August.