Greyhound Racing NSW officials insist the state's premier track Wentworth Park is expected to be one of a number of courses reconfigured to reduce injury and euthanasia rates, allowing the industry to be more accepted by the wider public.
The introduction of more straight track racing and construction of multi-purpose centres of excellence will underpin an overhaul of safety standards across the state's industry. Wentworth Park is tipped to be part of a revamp.
Optimistic: Greyhound Racing NSW CEO Tony Mestrov and chairman Morris Iemma.Credit: Janie Barrett
The two-turn circuit will host the world's richest greyhound event on Saturday night, the inaugural Million Dollar Chase, and has been identified as one track in need remodelling to provide for safer racing.
Former NSW Premier and GRNSW chairman Morris Iemma has led the industry since mid-way through last year and made no secret about some of its challenges, which co-incided with the release of its strategic plan on Friday.
"The first 12 months has been about identifying what needs to be done to the key racing tracks to make them safer," Iemma said. "The money’s there and it’s now physically getting the work done to reshape them and make them safer. There are even issues at Wentworth Park.
"Some of those projects have already started. People want to see less injuries and those euthanasia rates going down. Participants want to see the racing program strengthened. They want to see more races and be better rewarded with more opportunities for their dogs."
Safety upgrade: Wentworth Park.Credit: Brendan Esposito
The future of inner city Wentworth Park has been a hotly-debated topic ever since then Premier Mike Baird announced his plan to shut down the industry in 2015, which was later reversed. The lease for industry to use the facility expires in 2027.
Iemma and GRNSW chief executive Tony Mestrov accepted arguably the toughest roles in sports administration when heading up the industry's reform, which has unapologetically placed integrity and welfare as priorities.
The state government-backed Million Dollar Chase started with a series of qualifiers around regional NSW and will pit four local dogs against four Victorians in the final.
All participants had to sign a declaration they would re-home their greyhound or keep it at the end of their racing career, or risk having any prize money seized in the future.
Iemma confessed to being an avid fan of the sport even in his younger days up to and including when he was a backbencher in parliament, often studying the form in the Greyhound Recorder.
And he accepted a role to help salvage the industry after the live baiting expose, which he admitted "sickened" him.
"I don’t think the perception of the industry [by the wider public] has changed [yet], that’s a slow burn," he said. "It will change when people see our adoption rates going up and it will change when people see our injury rates going down and it will change when people see our unnecessary euthanasia rates going down.
"There is hope, there is a future and it can be an exciting one. But there can only be a future with integrity and welfare at the forefront."
The Million Dollar Chase has generated a wave of publicity for greyhound racing, but Mestrov, who left his role as the Gold Coast Titans' chief operating officer to take on the GRNSW job, already has an eye to the future.
"I’d like to see thousands of greyhounds around Sydney and in country regional areas as pets," he said. "We say we love the dog before they race, we love the dog when they race and we love the dog after it finishes it racing. The lifecycle is imperative.
"There’s a lot of work to do to mend what has happened in the past. I think the greater percentage realise it’s the last chance. For the ones that do the wrong this they’re not going to be in the industry."