For as long as I can remember Jonathan has embraced the bookmaker owned tracks and has been an advocate of a compacted sport. Can anybody say , hand on heart that allowing the bookmakers so much power within the sport has been a positive thing ? After the recent closure of Towcester , for the time being at least , the sport is now down to 21 tracks. I was aghast when watching Racing Post TV on Tuesday evening to hear that Jonathan wants to see more track closures and believes that the sport would be better off with a number of around 15 tracks. I really couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
Sure I understand his logic that tracks that are hanging on by a thread , with not much hope of a recovery , maybe they’re better off gone. The track which I’m sure springs to everybody’s mind would be Belle Vue. A serious lack of investment by the company who now use the once proud GRA brand has led to the track becoming a shadow of what it once was and an embarrassment to the sport. Where there is life though, we really shouldn’t be wishing for any more track closures. If Belle Vue were to close , what is now maybe a 20 to 30 mile trip for some to enjoy their passion of greyhound racing , becomes at least double that and more if they were wanting to continue in the sport.
How many owners and trainers turn around and say enough if enough and walk away ? That is what’s likely to happen at Belle Vue in the forseeable future and even the most optimistic amongst us would find it hard not to accept that. If that then leaves 20 tracks running under GBGB rules, who are the other 5 tracks that Jonathan would like to see closed ?
Whichever tracks he is insinuating the sport might be better off without , we will doubtless see many owners and trainer leaving the sport for good due to their closure. Can we as a sport really afford to see that happen ? Let’s take Harlow as an example. If Harlow closes , where do the future trainer at the likes of Romford , Crayford etc learn their trade? We also need to think about the impact that more track closures will have upon track preparation , will this see more races at the remaining tracks ? Some people are already complaining that even the current amount of racing is leaving track staff with little time to prepare the tracks for the next meeting.
More track closures would be an absolute disaster for the sport. As each track closes it leads to more and more owners and trainers leaving the sport. It leads to less dogs being needed , so breeders in both the UK and Ireland end up breeding less. Track closures for whatever reason are a disaster for the sport and to hear Jonathan yet again calling for an even more compacted sport than we already have is as baffling as it is bemusing. Everybody in the sport should be working over time to improve the outlook for the future , we need to be encouraging as many people as possible from the surrounding areas around tracks to attend. Once they are through the gates they need to be shown what a good sport we have and try our best to get them involved.
As much as Jonathan is entitled to his view as the next man , and in a lot of cases his view is a good one , I really cannot see how closing tracks will benefit anybody.
Mark Pierrepont
via email
