The latest breeding figures released by the Irish Coursing Club provide mixed results and food for thought for the betting and greyhound industries writes Floyd Amphlett.
The number of litters registered from January until the end of May was 1,024 compared with 1,052 for the similar period last year. A fall of around 2.7% doesn’t seem too concerning and is probably better news than most industry observers would have expected.
But there are other factors to consider. For example the number of matings during the same period fell from 1,422 to 1,279 a fall of around 10%. There is no apparent reason for the disparity. It is ‘possible’ that the litters figure might be skewed by coursing pups. There will be very few coursing litters born in the second half of the year, and coursing breeding does not appear to be experiencing as many many difficulties as track breeding. More likely, the figures are simply escalating.
Whilst giving a nod to the adage about ‘lies and statistics’, here are some other figures to contemplate. The 2015 decline in Irish breeding figures represented a record low. In 2003 for example, Britain and Ireland combined produced 5,615 litters. Last year it was 2,991.
Of course there were many more tracks open in 2003. We calculate that the number of races staged at around 725,000. Last year there were around 564,000.
The concern is surely this. In 13 years, the number of races has fallen by around 28.5%. The number of greyhounds being born has fallen by exactly 53.2%.
Irish and British litters 2003-2015
