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Plans for a new greyhound track at Towcester were revealed in today’s RP:
<!– m –>http://www.racingpost.com/news/greyhoun … t/1615430/<!– m –>
This was mooted around 2 years ago and has now finally come good
A cracking good idea , anything that helps those guys stay afloat is welcome news …remember its the only course that on most days welcomes its racegoers for free …smashing , normally a good day out , well done to all , I hope it breaks all box office records
I certainly will support it
Ricky
I’ve never been to Towcester but I think it’s a great idea. Nottingham Racecourse is right next to the dog track and they co exist quite happily.
I’ve looked at that plan and there seems to be one minor problem. Greyhound tracks are noted for being dead flat, Towcester is noted for being built on the side of a steep hill.
And not only does the land on the inside of the far rail fall away quite sharply, there’s a large pond pretty much where the plan shows the back straight of the greyhound track.
Bit like proposing a ski slope on the Somerset Levels.
I’ve looked at that plan and there seems to be one minor problem. Greyhound tracks are noted for being dead flat, Towcester is noted for being built on the side of a steep hill.
I’m going to take a wild guess that they may have already noticed this Alan!
Some levelling or ground-raising to be done, although a greyhound track with a ‘stiff uphill finish’ may be just the novelty this sadly ailing sport needs…
I would definitely go. I think it’s a great idea.
Mike
I’d imagine that they’d put the greyhounds on after racing, given that few people are going to go out of their way just for dog racing in the middle of nowhere!
I can’t stand greyhound racing, but I suppose it would extend a day at the races; if I got too bored, there’d always the option of heading to the Plough for a swift half.
..this hasn’t been mentioned so far, but from what I have heard this is Arab money being put up here, the trainers will be under contract and the races will be beamed on t.v. to the Middle East… no betting….
…still interested…?
They put on a few dog races at the Cheltenham Festival a while back so racing dogs on slopes works well enough in and of itself. However, that was cancelled due to the streptococcus zooepidemicus bacteria which is generally found in horses but can be fatal when contracted by dogs.
That said, dogs and horses share racedays at Dundalk so maybe it isn’t really an issue.
Maybe something to do with the upward of 10,000 dogs killed each year just in Uk and Ire.
Dog racing is rife with cruelty.
Not saying horse racing is squeaky clean, but it looks pretty saintly compared to greyhound racing.
Any facts to back that?
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've walked and I crawled on six crooked highwaysTalk about straying off topic,,,,!!!! if you are not careful Steeplechasing will be here any moment threatening us with RSPCA posts
Any innovative ideas that keep a race track open and thriving has to be good, in my opinion
Ricky
They used to have a greyhound track at the county ground Somerset but it had to go as Botham kept knocking the dogs over with 4’s and 6’s………..
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Maybe something to do with the upward of 10,000 dogs killed each year just in Uk and Ire.
Dog racing is rife with cruelty.
Not saying horse racing is squeaky clean, but it looks pretty saintly compared to greyhound racing.
Yes, the 10,000 figure is bandied around by the likes of Greyhound Action, PETA, Animal Rights Action and The Daily Mail.
On the other hand, the GRA reckons 7000 greyhounds leave the sport annually with around 4000 being rehomed through the likes of the Retired Greyhound Trust. The fate of the others is unknown but obviously many responsible owners and trainers keep them as pets themselves without rehoming them. Some are no doubt put down.
If there is any cruelty in greyhound racing then that is thoroughly reprehensible, but that is not the sport of greyhound racing is it? No more than trainers ham-fistedly applying illegal substances to their runners is the sport of horse racing.
It is without doubt beholden on the governing bodies to do the very best they can regarding animal welfare. I would say the GRA have done pretty well in this area over the last 10 to 15 years, but they – and the BHA – must aim to do better.
The reality is that the life options for racing animals after they have retired is limited. We all love to have the mental picture of Dessie wandering contentedly around his paddock or Westmead Hawk reproducing away in his kennels but there is clearly a whole strata of lesser lights for whom the future is not so certain.
For this reason, we all have a moral decision to make whether we choose to support a sport that involves animals. The two sports throw up the same joys and the same problems. How anyone can be really supportive of horse racing but vehemently opposed to greyhound racing is therefore beyond me.
Mike
They used to have a greyhound track at the county ground Somerset but it had to go as Botham kept knocking the dogs over with 4’s and 6’s………..
It’s an apocryphal and oft-repeated tale that upon seeing the Nou Camp for the first time, Nottingham Forest and England defender Viv Anderson said:
"S’alright. Where’s the dog track?"
Mike
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