Potential ‘six figure’ financial blow for Ascot Park
“It’s actually quite hard to concentrate on racing to tell you the truth."
News of greyhound ban breaks in midst of Southland race meeting
Southland Greyhound Racing Club secretary-manager Bronwyn Eade says she is shocked by the ban
A ‘six figure’ financial blow now looms for Ascot Park Raceway
The Government’s decision to ban greyhound racing is likely to have a significant financial impact on the wider Ascot Park Raceway complex - the home to all three racing codes in Invercargill.
This year the Southland Greyhound Racing Club will all up host 40-plus race meetings at Ascot Park.
The club pays a rental fee to the Ascot Park Consortium for each of those 40-plus meetings.
Ascot Park Consortium chair Sean Bellew acknowledged the removal of greyhound racing would have a financial impact.
“It’s a six-figure income, so there’s the potential to lose six-figures. To run a facility like that we need every dollar we can get,” Bellew said.
“Every dollar is a prisoner, and [Ascot Park] just washes its faces as it is.”
Under the current plan, the Ascot Park Consortium will have 20 months to work out how to fill that revenue gap following the removal of greyhound racing from Ascot Park.
Although Bellew doesn’t expect the greyhound industry will accept it lying down, and an appeal could take place.
That potential appeal could well extend the 20-month time frame out further, Bellew said.
“I think the whole process could become litigious from here.”
'Shock' greyhound news breaks in middle of Southland meeting…
There’s probably never a good time to have to digest the shock news that your decades-long passion is about to come to an end.
Amid a 10-race Southland Greyhound Racing Club meeting at Ascot Park Raceway in Invercargill on Tuesday news broke that the Government was banning greyhound racing in New Zealand.
“This is not a decision that is taken lightly but is ultimately driven by protecting the welfare of racing dogs,” Racing Minister Winston Peters said.
It was a lot to take in given most of those at Ascot Park on Tuesday either have their livelihoods attached to greyhound racing, or it has at least been a long-time passion.
“It’s actually quite hard to concentrate on racing to tell you the truth,” Southland Racing Club secretary-manager Bronwyn Eade said.
“[The mood is] pretty glum… You're in the middle of races and having to deal with that, it’s not the best.”
Eade said they’ve had to digest the news at the same time as the rest of the New Zealand public.
“I had a heads up about five minutes before [the announcement] so it was practically the same time as everyone else,” Eade said.
Much of Eade’s life has been dedicated to greyhound racing - 44 years in total to be precise.
Eade’s late husband Mervyn was a greyhound trainer up until he died in 2009. Bronwyn herself held a trainer’s licence for 16 years and she has been heavily involved in the industry as an administrator.
Peters said the greyhound industry had been on notice over animal welfare concerns for several years. There have been three reviews of the industry over the past decade, all recommending significant changes.
Although many involved with greyhound racing felt there had been improvements and the industry would continue.
“It felt that way, so yes, it was a shock,” Eade said of Tuesday’s news.
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Greyhound Racing New Zealand has made progress on reducing the death rate, but it was the inability to significantly cut the number of race-day injuries that was the catalyst for Peters deciding to bring the axe down.
The winding down of the industry will take place over a 20-month period to allow the re-homing of racing dogs and to provide a transition period for people involved in the industry.
Eade said there was work to be done to understand how that would play out.
“I’m just going to have to wait to hear from New Zealand Greyhounds to see how that is all going to work.”
Put basically this is the closing down of a business that is a customer of many businesses in the community.
They put income into the southland community, use hotels rooms when racing is on, fuel diesel petrol , buy food this when u really think about it brings in money to the southland economy that means they spend money with southland business's.
Not ad big a loss as tiwai when it closes but still a loss of revenue for our businesses locally.
Who will be next rodeo or horse racing.
These are both also events that can have days where things can go badly wrong.
As can any event, got to ask why the spotlight on greyhounds specifically.
Not across the broader picture of animal events ie rodeo, dog trials, the sad outcome for dogs that don't trial well is death/ shot.
Feel for those who will soon lose their life time passion.
Any appeals would be based on income loss, which is far less important than animal welfare.