Trainers rep challenges Barry Stanton’s view
I’m always interested in listening and reading the thoughts of Barry Stanton. Barry is a man who has dedicated many years to the sport of greyhound racing in various positions and is as entitled to his opinion on the current political scene as much as if not more than most. I do however have to take Barry to task regarding one specific paragraph from his article which appeared in the Greyhound Star titled ‘Let Them Have Their Cake And Eat It’.
The paragraph I’m concerned with in particular is the following –
Trainers have undoubtedly been the greatest beneficiaries of the media rights battle. They are now courted by tracks in the same way footballers are and financially, in terms of retainers and bonus payments, have seen their lot improve dramatically. Not only are they in high demand they can actually make a good living from the sport and long may that continue.
Maybe things are a little different down at Central Park , but I can assure Barry that the vast majority of trainers whom I represent are far from living financially comfortable lives. Indeed, far from living comfortable lives , many are struggling to make ends meet.
I personally own my own kennels, I am lucky that they are also not too far from my track Nottingham so my expenses with regards traveling, fuel , maintenance costs for my fleet etc , though my costs are still significant, they are less than the majority of trainers will face.
Knowing exactly what it costs myself to run a kennel, I dread to think how others are baring up, especially those with the added costs of renting premises etc. In fact, I don’t need to think, I’m made fully aware numerous times per week about how trainers are faring up financially, not just Nottingham trainers but trainers from around the country and on both sides of the ARC/SIS media battle.
Let me please assure Barry that many are far from living a good life and are struggling badly on the financial front. They love the greyhounds and they love the sport , but they simply don’t know how much longer they will be able to subsidise their businesses.
I would imagine the majority of promoters are bringing in six figure salaries. A trainer may also bring in that kind of figure , but the trainer has to pay 5/6 staff , two vehicles , feed and other associated costs out of that before they even take a penny for themselves. If any promoter wishes to take my job for a year and I’ll do theirs , I’ll be glad to do so and we shall see if they wish to remain as a greyhound trainer or if they want to get back to living what in comparison is a life of extreme luxury.
To sum , a lot of time and respect for you Barry , but let’s not make sweeping statements about greyhound trainers, a chosen few might be enjoying an Indian summer, but rest assured , the majority of us are experiencing the cold depths of winter with no sign of the rising sun.
Pete Harnden
What about kennel staff?
Hi Barry – When all is said and done with all this extra money streaming down the line why is it that kennelhands still work there socks off for way way less than minimum wage?
It’s about time HMRC stepped in and sorted this problem out . I’m out of the game now as I no longer agree with the running of dogs until they go broke and nobody has the balls to admit it ! Never mind good luck
Raymond Carter
Promoters in prime position
It was interesting to read Mr Stanton’s thoughts on the promoters’ problems which tends to confirm that the industry, and GBGB in particular, is in urgent need of restructuring. Of all the stakeholders involved, with four representatives on the GBGB board, surely the promoters are best placed to do something about it.
Too Much Racing
The greyhounds today are saturated with poor dog racing. I’ve never seen so many 275 metre races in my life but are obviously there to get more races in.
The betting is not in any way tallying up with Racing Post, as with so many races it’s open to corruption. There are meetings in a morning, three in afternoon, and god knows how many at night. It is too many and it’s scamming punters as betting patterns are unreal
If it is not looked into greyhound racing will ground to a halt. I predominantly bet on the dogs, but you’d need to be a millionaire to keep up with them now, even though it’s probably poorest dog racing in history.
M McCormack
Greyhound Sale
I attended the recent Irish Sales at Sheffield. It was efficiently run and wrapped up early Sunday afternoon with dogs not sold being re-offered for sale, which was a sensible to avoid the inevitable sales “behind the stadium,’ then sold privately without the necessary GBGB authorised place of destination authority.
At many professionally run business auctions I have never seen the auctioneer starting at an artificially high figure, then working back down to a realistic sale price? Surely you start at a realistic sale price and leave potential buyers to find the sale price in open competition?
One aspect on Greyhound welfare that was a concern to me was expecting November 2017 pups being trialled over 500 metres on going estimated 35 slow after heavy rain in the area.
For me 480 metres would be enough for pups not even two years old for another 6 to 8 months. It was punishing to watch untried pups struggling over a punishing distance on heavy going, resulting in slow times and dogs being taken off the bench unsold. Hopefully something that those running this operation will consider at future sales?
Mike Kelly
