The Path to a Resumption of Racing
Greyhound races and trials ceased to be run in New Zealand on Tuesday 24 March when the government declared Alert Level 3 in preparation for Alert Level 4 at midnight on Wednesday 25 March.
In anticipation of a return to racing the GRNZ Board has stipulated that trainers must be given the opportunity to improve the fitness of their dogs at organised trials across the course of a week prior to racing commencing.
The Board has further stipulated that the first race meeting in each region; Northern, Central and Canterbury should be a complete 12 race card of sprints over 318m, 305m and 295m respectively.
The actual dates for such trials and race meetings cannot be confirmed at this stage. Racing clearly cannot resume in any region that is still under Alert Level 4. GRNZ has sought permission to run hand-slip trials, under strict safety protocols, but we have yet to receive a response either way.
So we can only assume at this stage that we will be able to run trials and then race meetings in regions that are at Alert Level 3 or lower. As soon as we have confirmation of this we will commence working with clubs to schedule trials and then put into action a Contingency Calendar for racing that has been worked through with the TAB.
Weekly Contingency Calendar to Resume Racing
We are hopeful that this calendar can become a reality over the closing week in April. We do not want to settle on any dates until we have a clear green light from the government.
Prizemoney levels for this calendar also cannot be confirmed at this time. It is a work in progress with RITA to understand the implications on code funding that arise from the current lockdown. GRNZ's priority is to have racing restarted.
Under Alert Level 3 this calendar of races will operate Behind Closed Doors (no Public), with a Minimum of Travel (no nominations from outside of a region) and under Strict Raceday Safety Protocols as you may have seen on TV in practice in Australia.
Should one region fall back to Alert Level 3, prior to the others then we will schedule the races and trials in that region only and act similarly as restrictions are lifted in the other regions. This is why the Northern and CD meetings are listed as such. Should one track become available prior to another then we will make use of the available venue.
Due to the unacceptable amount of travel involved with running full meetings at Forbury Park or Invercargill, these venues are not utilised for racing within this contingency calendar. Decisions in regard to racing there may be made once Harness Racing returns to those venues.
Michael Dore
Racing Operations and Welfare Manager