UNDER THE RADAR: MICHAEL WATTS

Ask Not For Whom The Bell Tolls

The optimist’s glass is said always to be half full, the pessimists half empty. If truth be told I am generally a glass half empty kind of guy, always with the wind in my face with the jam nicked off my piece.

You might have thought that my gloomy mien could sink no further, by reading the advance notice of the Irish Greyhound Board’s “Review of Industry Needs” would induce even the most bubbly and upbeat of characters to seriously consider emigration or a career change if not the actual slashing of wrists.

It is hard to take from it anything other than a streamlining of the greyhound industry in Ireland in an attempt to postpone its demise. Maybe I should have gone to Specsavers.

I wish somebody would stop me and tell me I have got it wrong, but in the meantime, it looks to me like the greyhound game we know and love is about to undergo a paradigm shift in the next five years I

Gerard Dollard the CEO of the Irish Greyhound Board, who has only recently been handed this particular poisoned chalice, has commented that “Stadia will be assessed on an individual and collective basis in several different areas, including finance, population catchment and other competing sporting facilities near each stadium”

That sounds all well and good, but let us start off by taking a quick peek at finance because without funding the other areas pale into insignificance. Now I am no accountant and poring over balance sheets is not my strong suit so you will have to cut me a little slack at this point.

In 2017 the IGB’s profits fell by half, from €3.2 million in 2016 so €1.67 million last year. This steep fall represents the closure of the profitable track at Harold’s Cross, which was sold for development to free up funds to help clear the Board’s continuing debts.

Protests at Dublin’s other track Shelbourne Park, generally regarded as the jewel in the IGB’s crown, by owners and trainers unhappy with the decision to end racing at The Cross, saw it close for twenty two weeks last year.

As a result it posted a loss of €115,476 in 2018, having made a profit of €259,037 in 2016 when it was almost the only one of the Board’s tracks to finish up in the black. Reference to the IGB’s Annual Report for 2018 suggests that Curraheen Park in Cork made a loss of €234.345 in 2017 a modest improvement of 2016 when it lost €260,912 although tote profits fell from €302,024 to €247.632 during the same period.

The biggest lose appears to be Limerick track, which recorded a loss of €356,303 in 2017, scarcely changed from the figure of €357,429 it lost the previous year.

Tote profits there fell from €181,287 to €145,084 during the same period.

I could continue, but perhaps it will suffice to say that the picture is pretty uniformly one of unrelieved gloom across the country and the industry. In the circumstances you have to wonder how many tracks will remain open for business at the end of the Board’s current five year plan.

As part of their review the Board intends to make an “assessment of, services available and standard of facilities at all sixteen licensed greyhound stadia”

That too sounds all well and good, but if a track is not profitable in the medium term there may not be the funds available for big infrastructure projects.

Besides, a track in a small town like Thurles, with a population of around eight thousand people and with a rival track in Clonmel half an hour’s drive away, has a limited pool of potential racegoers however enticing the ambience.

Which brings us nicely to the matter of population catchments. For those unfamiliar with the Irish geography and demographics, the first thing that you need to grasp is that, according to the 2016 census, the population of the Republic of Ireland only comes to around 4.75 million souls, of whom some 1.3 million live in the greater Dublin area.

In contrast Cork had a population of 125,622 in 2016 and Galway just 79,994 citizens in that year.

Googling frantically, if we look at some of the rural towns in which greyhound tracks are located we find that while Waterford can muster around 53,504 residents, the population of Mullingar is 20,928 and that of Enniscorthy just 11,328.

Clearly there is only a limited pool of potential punters for Enniscorthy track, situated as it is in rural Wexford with a rival track at Kilcohan Park in Waterford just under thirty miles away.

Given that the population catchments in rural Ireland are unlikely to change much in the near future, you have to wonder about the long-term viability of the greyhound stadia in some of the smaller towns.

It is easy to say that as long as Shelbourne Park returns to profitability sharpish that will pull the industry up by its bootstraps and if some of the minor country tracks go under then so be it.

The problem with that approach is that Shelbourne Park does not exist in isolation. In Ireland a dog who qualifies at one track can quickly and easily be switched to another and a dog can run at any track where he can get an entry.

Thus many of the elite greyhounds that become household names for their exploits in the Derby and the other showcase stakes at headquarters start their careers racing at their trainer’s local track down the country.

The small town rural tracks are in many cases the nurseries in which the open class dogs are fostered until the time is right for them to strut their stuff on the big stage. If some of them close, then some of supplies of new recruits for the city tracks may dry up.

As part of its review, the IGB plans to carry out an analysis of the racing schedule for each greyhound stadium. Apart from reviewing the allocation of race nights to neighbouring tracks, it is hard to see what the IGB can achieve here. It is a chicken and egg situation.

The racing manager will put as many races on the card as he can reasonably fill. If prizemoney is poor or it is more profitable to sell dogs to race in England that to train them at home then everybody gets to go home early. If there is money to be made then all hands will be at the track until after closing time.

The Board also intends to look into any possible impact arising from the availability of breeders or trainers with a track’s catchment area. It never fails to amaze me how far some folk are prepared to travel to get their dog a run but fair play to them for trying. .

Apart from that it is not reasonable to expect breeders and owners to operate on a “Live horse and you will get grass” basis. (that Irish proverb may me a bit beyond most of us Brits – Ed)

If the sums don’t add up they will not stay in the game. The availability of breeders and trainers depends on the availability of prize money and the value of race dogs. We are back at that chicken and that egg.

The Board also wishes to carry out an analysis of what it calls relevant competing sporting facilities within the catchment area.

In Dublin they have acknowledged that Shelbourne Park has to compete to some degree with the Aviva Stadium and Croke Park, and that currently it does not quite reach their standard.

We have learned through bitter experience that there is not much money to be made catering for hard core greyhound men. The profitability of greyhound racing lies in attracting corporate events, birthday parties, stag nights and so forth.

I am not sure that you can have a night out at the Aviva four nights a week, and I would wonder how many people at Croker watch the match from the comfort of a restaurant table. Maybe Shelbourne is not so far off the mark after all. Anyway the IGB has earmarked €3 million for revamping the Ringsend venue over the next five years.

Finally the IGB wishes to develop recommendations regarding the appropriate industry footprint for the future. When I figure out what this means I will be sure to let you know..

Looking back this piece seems very negative. I wish it could be otherwise, but any way you look at it Mr. Dollard and his lieutenants have a mountain to climb. I wish them well and hope they make it to the top. Meantime my glass looks pretty empty and I haven’t the price of another round on me.

 

            Twitter: @GSUnderTheRadar