The Sunday Afternoon “Finish On”

Well before the racing commenced at The Gardens on Saturday night, long queues formed at the Birmingham Gardens venue in Newcastle and the gathered throng was robustly entertained.

In a national sense, Greyhound Racing NSW is now the premier promoter of the code and it was a young, engaged crowd which was thrilled by a night of quality chasing and a concert by Shannon Noll.

Noll did a great job at Dubbo for the rich Ladbrokes Country Challenge Final on March 19 and his drawing power and popularity worked a treat.

Gate entry was affordable (at $10) and GRNSW has a successful template in community engagement in the regional districts.

At Grafton next Sunday, on a twilight program, the inaugural Thunderbolt winner will secure $75,000 – the richest, unrestricted free entry race for short course sprinters in the land.

Leading jockey Robbie Dolan was showcased magnificently on Channel 7's The Voice in April and he gets the nod this time to entertain.

Local sprinters dominated in the Thunderbolt semi finals on Saturday night with the Casino-based Fast Liar setting the high water mark at 19.74.

All four heats were secured by dogs trained in the Northern Rivers and the box draw for the final has tipped the way of Fast Liar.

On semi final sectional times, Fast Liar has a marginal advantage yet Orson Laurie has often run sections which can lead any race and collided heavily with Vencedor (box seven) at box rise. His effort to score in 19.99 was terrific.

The box draw is: 1 Integrity Mate, 2 Fast Liar, 3 Typhoon Sammy, 4 Preston Lee, 5 Diamond Jill, 6 Orson Laurie, 7 Orara Dan, 8 Bodacious Star.

Three Best 8 events over 350m, 450m and 660m offering $5000 to the winner adds lustre to a night which deserves a permanent place on the calendar.

STEPPING UP

While the advertisement for a new Chief Executive at Greyhound Racing NSW has only just hit online portals, the rebranding of Wayne Billett's role at GRNSW assures participants of a steady hand.

A Dapto resident for his entire life, Billett was born into greyhound racing with mum Helen and dad Darby both working at the Showgrounds track, firstly when Ian Pitt was Secretary Manager before the legendary Bill Dwyer.

Wayne's employment in the industry started in 1982 and it's unlikely there is a more experienced greyhound racing administrator in the country.

His Chief Operating Officer role morphs to Deputy CEO on Tuesday yet only a few things will change.

"Some operational duties will be moved to other staff but I see my role as a wingman for the new CEO," Billett said.

"Tony arrived here without any real greyhound racing experience and grew into the role, working to make NSW the envy of other states.

"I've got to expect that our new CEO may come without industry experience and that challenge will be best met by having a good team on board.

"Any recruitment can take time but Tony will still be here for another six weeks and I'd fully expect it will be business as usual."

One big ticket item the new CEO, Wayne and the GRNSW Board faces is the imminent future of metro racing (Wentworth Park) and its tenure with the NSW Lands Department.

Greyhound racing has a lease for WPK finishing in 2027 and a move away from the Glebe track has been mooted for two decades.

Discussions with government are on-going but it's understood very little or no compensation is on offer for an early exit.

Greyhound racing is owed a large sum of money by the Wentworth Park Trust which must be repaid on vacating the facility but, meantime, a rental cost of a little more $1m annually (for two racing days and one trial session) is exorbitant and not sustainable.

Any move away from WP will boosts GRNSW's bottom line. While historical and iconic, the site has long passed its use by date and inner Sydney is far from an ideal destination for trainers who arrive from fields afar.

TAXING TIMES

On Thursday, Tabcorp and the Australian Hotels Association launched a bizarre (and costly) marketing campaign (as the Aussie Fair Play Coalition) against the corporate bookmaking fraternity.

Taxation on wagering (and return to industry) was highlighted last week when the Pałaszczuk Government and Racing Queensland increased the Point of Consumption Tax takeout for Queensland-based punters from 15 per cent to 20 per cent and this campaign added icing to an already well backed cake.

Back when NSW's Judas-like greyhound racing administrators signed a crippling inter-code agreement (to allocate revenue following the privatisation of the TAB circa 1996), Fixed Odds wagering was yet to be discussed, the internet was hardly the wagering behemoth it now is and new income from Racefield Legislation and Tax Parity were years away.

Now, with something in the order of just 30 per cent market share and a retail presence which is deteriorating, Tabcorp has ponied up with poker machine licensees to pressure governments for concessions.

Don't forget, Victorians go to the polls in November while the State election in NSW next March will be another clear target.

Midst the hoopla of new players and marketplace changes, Tabcorp seems to have lost touch with their customer base.

This latest marketing spend would have been best utilised promoting and engaging lost clientele and being a better partner for greyhound racing given that Sky Racing is a core driver in what they do.

Sky Racing has always treated greyhound racing as a third class citizen when it comes to live vision – all too often post-race commendatory and detail is curtailed when, for example,  ‘wagons are circling' in the preamble to a harness event.

The irony of Tabcorp's position as a de-merged entity (of Lottery and wagering divisions) is that contracts, distribution of revenue and staffing will undertake a new and potentially vastly different paradigm

Net profit (at the expense of the punter) is the back story. Both Tabcorp and the AHA seek taxation to be lifted for their benefit.

The Aussie Fair Play Coalition's mantra does not disclose the monopoly Tabcorp has on retail wagering across the country and their PoCT remit is disguised.

Rather than pay PoCT as per their rivals, Tabcorp pays a premium for their retail exclusivity presence.

Does anyone think Tabcorp would consider relinquishing its retail monopoly? That move would place everyone on a level playing field and sparks would fly!

Only then will rubber hit the road – real customer service and return to industry would be the focus.

The PoCT hike in Queensland will hit punters and this campaign has the portent to influence elsewhere.

TRIALS AND TRIBULATION

While prizemoney and promotion in NSW is excellent, one aspect which GRNSW has continued to ignore is the support of breeders.

In Victoria, the rich Pink Diamond Series (for Victorian-bred stock only) – Australia's richest regional greyhound race day – concludes at Ballarat on June 17 with 12 feature races on the program.

The card totals $1.175m with qualifiers securing spots after contesting heats at Bendigo, Shepparton, Warragul and Geelong in the past seven days.

Three events – over three distances – offer $75,000 to the winner plus a breeder's bonus of $11,250.

The remaining nine races attain breeders' bonuses of $3750 to the winner while placegetters in all 12 races still secure a return to breeders.

One aspect of the huge card at Ballarat which has missed the mark is a lack of trialling opportunity at the track.

Ballarat has a busy week ahead (meetings on Monday and Wednesday) but have not programmed any trials for Monday (after the last race) in order for trainers to best prepare June 17 qualifiers.

Let's hope this was not based on Public Holiday penalty rates as all staff will be at hand for the race meeting.

Trainers of dogs without Ballarat experience are now forced to trial on Tuesday (and that's limited to 35 trials) which is less than ideal for a Friday race commitment.

Geelong and Bendigo do a grand job assisting trainers with trialling opportunity but others just don't play a team game.

It's something which GRV is conscious of but it really needs individual clubs to appreciate the need for trainers to trial on tracks they intend to race on.

Wagering drives turnover ergo income and that's what Ballarat, for example, has failed to come to grasp whatsoever.