Victoria’s full suite of greyhound racetracks will soon be operational once again with the redevelopment of Horsham now in the final stages.
GRV has joined forces with Sydney’s University of Technology during the redevelopment in a bid to ensure all design factors have been properly taken into account with respect to track safety and greyhound welfare.
“It’s exciting that we’re at the pointy end of the redevelopment and we’re looking like starting trials in late May or early June, with a view to possibly reopening for racing sometime later in June,” GRV’s Racing Manager, Scott Robins said.
“We are about to install the rail, and once that is in place it will really start to look like a racetrack again.”
The redevelopment has come about following a safety audit which saw racing cease at the venue since October. While the project is not a complete new track as such, much of the infrastructure has been replaced making it a virtual brand new build.
Sand from Lake Burrumbeet (near Ballarat), which has long been the preferred surface on Victoria’s greyhound racetracks for welfare and maintenance reasons, is being stockpiled to be used as the surface at Horsham, while there are several other key safety features.
“Every aspect of this redevelopment has a science overlay to it, with welfare being the overriding priority. We’re widening the track and improving the transitions with the camber on the bends being increased to about 10 per cent, which is what science tells us is the most comfortable degree for the greyhounds, so we expect the dogs to get a nice and smooth transition into the turns,”Robins said.
Horsham will initially race over two distances – 410 metres (drop on boxes) and 485 metres – with a provision for a third distance of around 675 metres to potentially be instated in the future. The club will also have puppy boxes over 310 metres for trialling purposes
