Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) is excited to announce the addition of two night-time racing slots for the 2024-25 racing calendar. Wentworth Park will now join Dapto for Thursday night races, while a new Wednesday night slot has been secured for the soon-to-be-completed Mid North Coast club at Taree.
The shift of Wentworth Park to Thursday nights aligns NSW with other major metropolitan clubs across Australia, including Sandown Park in Victoria, Angle Park in South Australia, Albion Park in Queensland, and Hobart in Tasmania. This important metro racing alignment has been achieved while at the same time preserving the iconic Thursday night Dapto greyhound meetings to continue in their traditional slot.
GRNSW Chief Executive Officer Mr Rob Macaulay said: “Aligning our premier venue with the biggest greyhound night of the week has been a key objective. However, maintaining Dapto’s Thursday night slot was equally important. This new schedule achieves both goals, offering broad benefits to our industry.”
Wentworth Park’s Saturday race meetings remain unchanged, while its second race date, previously programmed on Wednesdays and trialled on Fridays, will now consistently occur on Thursdays in line with city racing nationwide.
Mr Macaulay added: “This synchronisation is advantageous for participants, stakeholders, and punters alike.”
Starting July 1, the new calendar will also introduce Country Class race meetings, featuring a minimum of 56 new TAB events aimed at lower-tier racing greyhounds, previously considered for non-TAB nominations. These meetings will offer significantly increased prize money, with maiden prizes rising by 45% and prizes for other grades increasing by over 70%.
Venues hosting TAB Country Class meetings include Dubbo, Goulburn, Wagga, Gunnedah, Taree, and Muswellbrook. The first such event will kick off as a twilight meeting at Goulburn on July 1. Once upgrades at Lithgow are completed, this venue will host Monday twilight race meetings, with Country Class racing moving to Saturday morning.
Summary of Key Changes:
Wentworth Park: Moves to Thursday nights alongside Dapto.
New Slots: Wednesday night slot for Taree, Thursday night slot for Wentworth Park.
Country Class Meetings: Introduction of a minimum of 56 new TAB events for lower-tier greyhounds with substantial increased prize money opportunities across these grades by comparison to non-TAB equivalents.
Other notable changes include:
Richmond returning to Friday night races while keeping its Wednesday night slot.
Richmond Straight track race meetings moving to Thursday mornings, with Saturday mornings now allocated to Muswellbrook and Taree.
Gunnedah switching from Thursday twilight to Wednesday twilight, and Casino moving from a daytime slot to Thursday twilight.
Temora shifting from Wednesday twilight to Wednesday daytime meetings.
