The Upper Hunter’s newest racing facility will be unveiled with an historic TAB meeting on Sunday afternoon at Muswellbrook.
Following a $3 million redevelopment of the facility, the Muswellbrook Greyhound Track will host a Grand Opening family day to celebrate the club’s first ever TAB race meeting.
“It’s a very exciting time not only for our racing participants in the region – which is a heartland of our sport in NSW – but for the community in and around Muswellbrook,” Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) Chief Executive Officer Rob Macaulay said.
“What greyhound racing does within local communities, is that it supports livelihoods of participants and but there are also flow on benefits throughout the towns.
“We estimate the facility will bring an additional $20 million into the Muswellbrook economy, and 20 additional jobs.
“The local community will see an influx into the economy from those coming to race, and, as part of a new GRNSW policy initiated last year, local suppliers were the preferred supplies for work, and will continue to be.”
GRNSW purchased the track from the Greyhound Breeders, Owners & Trainers Association in 2021 with the aim of rebuilding the facility. The last race meeting staged at Muswellbrook was an 11-race, Non-TAB card on August 1, 2021.
As the case is with all GRNSW track upgrades, the focus of the rebuild at Muswellbrook has been firmly on safety.
“The reason why we are investing in these tracks around the State is to bring all of our racetracks up to the safest standard for our greyhounds, and we have done exactly that here at Muswellbrook,” Mr Macaulay said.
“The safety and welfare of our animal is paramount.”
Among the work conducted at the track has been a full refurbishment with the remediation and re-profiling of the track and the turf surface, the installation of a new safety rail, safety padding on the turns and in the catching pen, and a Safechase lure system.
The kennels have new insulation and air conditioning installed, new starting boxes and new synthetic mats at the boxes are in place, and a new swabbing bay and stewards’ room have been built.
“We are very, very proud of the new facility at Muswellbrook, it looks spectacular, and to celebrate the Grand Opening, we are inviting everyone from around the region to come along and be part of what will be a memorable day,” Mr Macaulay said.
Local participants have shown their support for the new facility with a large number of nominations ensuring a 12-race card has been scheduled.
The completion of the upgrade at Muswellbrook will offer participants another state-of-the-art venue in the region to race at, along with The Gardens in Newcastle and the Maitland track.