TAREE Greyhound Club president Des McGeachie has denied his club would have been shut down even if greyhound racing hadn’t been banned in NSW.
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This had been claimed by Verna Simpson, a director of the Humane Society International in a press release to the Times.
“The Taree track was already slated for closure before the ban was announced,’’ Simpson wrote in a lengthy piece supporting the action.
Mr McGeachie said this was not the case.
“Greyhounds NSW was looking to cull some tracks,’’ he admitted.
"But nothing was set in concrete.’’
In fact he said the Taree club was in a position of strength, both financially and in terms of the number of trainers using the Kanangra Drive complex as well as the amount of races it conducts.
There had been speculation that two of the three tracks on the Mid North Coast – Taree, Wauchope and Kempsey, would have been closed as part of a rationalisation of the industry in NSW. Mr McGeachie said if this had been the case, he was confident Taree would have survived and prospered. This could have led to Taree conducting TAB meetings for the first time. However, this was shelved once the ban was announced earlier this year, with the industry now fighting for its future in NSW.
“We’re the most financial we’ve been in our history and we have more trainers than ever looking to nom,’’ Mr McGeachie said.
Mr McGeachie had pointed out in the past that Taree meetings regularly attract strong support from trainers in the Newcastle and Hunter areas. The club usually runs 12 races per meeting, as will be the case tomorrow.
He said the industry is continuing to fight the ban through the courts while he believes the result of the Orange by-election on November 12 could be crucial if there’s a significant swing against the State government, with leading figures in the National Party now openly opposing the ban.
“It’s looking pretty good for us there (at Orange) at the moment,’’ he said.
The club raced last Saturday and will run again tomorrow where the Rocket Tools final will be the feature.
Mr McGeachie said it looks as though the club will now be able to fulfill all its set racing dates until the ban comes into place on June 30 next year.
“There was a bit of talk about them weeding some of the meetings out, but it looks as though that won’t happen,’’ he said.
“We’ll be racing right up to our final meeting, then they’ll shut us down.’’
The club had started making preparations to celebrate its 60th anniversary next year when the ban was announced.