Don’t believe a word of what you’re being told by GRV about it’s plan to make greyhound racing safer my moving all the races to one-turn tracks.
It’s all just a smokescreen for the real plan.
That secret plan is to force the Sandown and Meadows clubs to sell their tracks and the land they sit on, at the threat of being sent broke or out of business if they don’t.
What’s behind it all is GRV’s parlous financial position under the leadership of the inexperienced at the top level CEO Stuart Laing, who since taking over the big chair in October 2022 has overseen a loss of $7.3 million from a previous year’s profit of $2.7 million – a negative turnaround of $10 mil – plus an $8 million plunge of GRV’s financial position, while at the same time presiding over a $3.3 million dollar increase in debt.
In the language of the track, Laing’s going like a busted arse and so is GRV.
They can’t afford to pay for the basic infrastructure required to move Victorian greyhound racing into the modern age, so are looking to force the two clubs with rich property assets to sell up and do it for them.
The way they intend to do it is to force the clubs to pay at least in part for a major redevelopment and reconstruction of their own courses to turn them into one turn tracks with training, veterinary and education facilities, a job and financial responsibility that rightly rests with GRV itself and always has.
The idea that the clubs could possibly do all these things on their limited tracts of land is preposterous, and the GRV imposed costs of reconstruction will all but crush and kill them.
It’s not being said out loud yet, but if the Sandown and Meadows clubs don’t play ball with the GRV plan, then their licenses to exist and race will be threatened, on spurious animal welfare grounds.
I say spurious because there is little evidence provided in the discussion paper that shows in any way, shape or form that the current two-turn Meadows and Sandown tracks have any higher rate of injury than the one-turn (for some distances) tracks outside of the valuable land sited metropolitan areas of land shortages that the big two are situated in.
In fact, the stats produced by GRV in its discussion paper show that the incidence of greyhound death or injury has decreased markedly in recent years, so what’s the issue?
There isn’t one.
It’s utter claptrap.
Make no mistake whatsoever about this, and disregard most of what GRV are telling you.
This is a land grab, pure and simple.
A blatant attempt to force two thriving clubs with big asset bases to prop up a failing GRV leadership who are driving the peak body into the ground.
So a message to all Victorian greyhound participants.
Make sure you put in your feedback on the GRV discussion paper.
And tell them to f**k off.