Greyhound Racing Victoria Chair Peita Duncan has delivered a passionate pledge to participants, whose vigilance has helped greyhound racing continue through ever-tightening coronavirus restrictions.

“We will defend and protect this industry to the end,” Duncan said, as she and GRV chief executive Alan Clayton joined Gareth Hall on RSN Centralthis morning.

Duncan said she had been in contact with up to 100 greyhound participants each day for the last fortnight as the sport has forged ahead via a number of key factors, including the rigid compliance of participants to coronavirus directives and the isolated nature of greyhound kennels.

“They know we’ve got their back,” Duncan said.

“We are doing everything we can to keep going. We keep rolling the dice to be honest.”

Clayton said the fact greyhound kennels were mostly based on isolated country properties made it less difficult for greyhound trainers to adhere to self-distancing and other protocols that have also been successfully absorbed by the gallops and trots.

Both administrators said they were confident greyhound racing could continue without restrictions due to the number of races run and prizemoney offered.

“We are not cutting prizemoney now because this is the very time people need money in their pockets,” Clayton said.

Duncan said the fact GRV had explored whether racing could be restricted to a small group of greyhounds at Healesville “proved we’ve had a crack rather than just sitting around and waiting to see what happens next.”

For a handful of logistical reasons, the Healesville project did not proceed.

Clayton praised the greyhound community for acting in a way that allowed the sport to continue. He said participants acted quickly once ‘COVID-19 rules’ were introduced and then tightened.

Duncan urged the greyhound community to “Please, do what the government says. That’s all you need to do and hopefully that will see us through.”

BY Matt Stewart, Racing Editor

Oringal Article