By GRNSW
Greyhound Racing NSW will commence a trial of city midweek prizemoney meetings at its five one-turn racetracks from next month.
The announcement comes following a successful meeting of participants, stakeholders and GRNSW representatives at a seminar in Orange on Monday where one of the topics discussed was around the best options and avenues for distributing additional prizemoney.
A four-month trial will begin on November 21, with selected meetings at GRNSW’s five one-turn tracks – Maitland, Goulburn, Temora, Grafton and Bulli – offering city mid-week prizemoney for races 440m and beyond, excluding maiden races.
Maitland will host the first meeting on November 21, followed by Temora on November 29, Bulli on December 6, Grafton on December 11 and Goulburn on December 16.
The trial will continue through to March next year and during that time GRNSW will monitor nominations, wagering, and safety data for the meetings and compare those with race meetings carrying normal provincial prizemoney, to make an assessment on the success and future of the project.
“It’s very pleasing to be able to introduce another big increase in prizemoney,” GRNSW’s Chief Executive Officer Rob Macaulay said. “This is a trial at this stage, but if successful it will continue, and we will also have further positive news in this regard to announce very soon.
“We had a very productive prizemoney seminar in Orange on Monday, and I truly thank a wonderful group of participants who gave their time to contribute. Many great ideas were put forward on the day.
“These seminars are not one-off events. I value the feedback and ideas of our participants and stakeholders, and I am looking forward to holding additional seminars on scheduling and grading in the near future.
“We are committed to making NSW the best place in the world to race greyhounds.”
The latest increases to participants come on the back of $2.1 million passed on to the NSW industry on October 1, when $1.3 million annually was announced for the addition of fourth-placed prizemoney and $800,000 added to travel subsidies.
