Trainers are reminded that although the Gain Greyhound Nutrition 3 Steps To Victory has been postponed and no new date has yet been found in the Calendar.
Racing manager Andrew Mascarenhas said: “I don’t know why the Three Steps is still in the Calendar and I am still talking to the Open Racing Planning Committee about a new date. But the racing schedule is very heavily congested in the latter part of the year and of course there is the extra complication of running on Saturday nights in November with the first being on Bonfire Night when we won’t be racing.
“In terms of the track work, as we advised everyone a few weeks ago, the stadium will be closed for eight days after our meeting on Saturday July 23, though the preparatory work will get underway at the end of next week.”
More detail is now available to put the sheer size of the project into some perspective.
Mascarenhas said: “Everything has been tightly scheduled with 100 tons of stone to arrive the following Friday and 1,200 tons of fresh sand due on July 18. The original project, which includes new drainage for the speedway track, which will now be separate from the greyhounds, comes out at £400,000.
“But that doesn’t include some additional projects. For example we will also be buying a new watertank and bowser. Until now we have relied on the borehole but the new tank will be big enough to refil the bowser five times before it needs replenishing. We are also getting some new cabling fitted to allow us to install a camera at the third bend looking back down the backstraight.”
In total the track will lose five meetings before re-opening on Tuesday August 2 which will be an all-graded meeting.
Mascarenhas said: “I don’t plan to stage any opens for the first couple of Tuesdays. We have a big kennel strength of 430-440 dogs when we need around 390. I want to give all the locals a chance to get races before we introduce the opens.”
The fact that the kennel strength is as strong as it is has enabled the track to recently increase its Saturday night meetings up to 17 races, starting at 6.19pm and finishing at 10.30pm.
Mascarenhas continued: “It means we have had to cancel Saturday trials but in turn that means that dogs aren’t in kennels for five hours. The fact is, the stadium is really busy with the corporate boxes and restaurant working to near capacity all the time.”
As an additional incentive to local owners and trainers, they are able to claim meals at a 50% discount rate on Tuesdays and Fridays with visiting owners and trainers on Tuesday being able to claim a 25% discount.
