Historic Day As Richmond Straight Track Is Open For Racing

It had been 2380 days since we last saw straight track racing in NSW, but it finally returned on Saturday morning with the Richmond club christening their brand new track on a perfect morning in front of a  large crowd.

The last race meeting held up a straight in NSW was at Appin Way, back on October 18, 2014. Not only was this the first meeting since then, but it was also the very first TAB straight track meeting in the State.

And a tick after 8.30am on April 24, 2021, the honour of being the historic first winner on the 12-race card, went to Hiatus in a heat of the maiden series, for trainer Shaun Evans and his wife Kayla-Jane COLEMAN.

Having his second race start and his first since a pin muscle injury on debut at Bulli on December 1, Hiatus bounded to the early lead and charged up the centre of the track, winning comfortably and covering the 324m in fast 17.95s.

“It makes getting up early worth it,” said Kayla-Jane, who made the early morning trip from The Oaks. “We knew we had a maiden, so winning the first race at the (new) track was half the plan.

“He did his pin muscle in his first start at Bulli and it’s been a long journey back but we’re here today. 

“This race came along at the right time. We gave him a few trials here and we thought that straight track racing at the moment would be the best thing for him.

“He will be a good circle dog, but we’re getting his fitness up right now.”

Kayla-Jane’s family has been involved in greyhound racing for many years, and she says that straight track racing is a fantastic addition to the calendar in NSW.

“It’s just a good variety for dogs that are coming back from injury, and older dogs, and dogs that have previous injuries that can’t corner now, or dogs that run wide. It does open it up for a lot of dogs.

“And a lot of dogs can race both of course, but I think we’ll see a lot of masters’ dogs coming here, and it’s great to give younger dogs field experience and just racing in a straight line not having to worry about cornering.”

The couple would have another winner in the maiden series three races later when Euphemism scored in 18.44s.

Fastest time of the morning went to Charlie Gatt's My Buddy which clocked 17.67s.