NSW minister for Hospitality and Racing Kevin Anderson not only acknowledges that greyhound racing in his state is thriving, but he is excited about what the future holds.
The minister was in Goulburn recently to announce a $6 million project which will see the development of NSW's second TAB straight track as well as a rebuild of the club's circle track and installation of lights at the venue to allow night racing.
"Greyhound racing in NSW is thriving there is no doubt about that, and each year I continually get excited about what's next," Mr Anderson said.
"I think under the new CEO Rob Macaulay it has a very strong future and there's a lot of confidence in the industry and Goulburn is a classic example of that.
"It [the Goulburn project] is exciting and been a long time coming, but when we think about it, what we have got to do with tracks across NSW, is upgrade them, and make sure that they do meet the track safety standards and Goulburn will be a centre of excellence, no doubt about that. I think what we have got to continue to do is to keep making sure we invest with GRNSW to upgrade tracks and I think you've got to have that mix, the option of the straight track as well as the circular tracks.
"It's great to see the involvement and the drive and the commitment from participants. They want safe measures, they want safe tracks, they want to make sure their dog is racing on the safest track possible, so it's incumbent on GRNSW to provide those tracks. Safety is paramount and we are seeing participants demand that for their animals and we are going to deliver it."
While it is the largest project that the GRNSW Tracks and Infrastructure team will undertake this year, it is not their sole project, with safety upgrades being undertaken at racetracks around NSW.
A refurbishment of training track lure rails and associated equipment at Tamworth is being completed in time for the club to host a race meeting on September 3.
Upgrades at training tracks at Wauchope, Thirlmere and Cessnock are expected to be completed by the middle of September, providing additional training facilities for participants in the Mid North Coast, Southern NSW and Hunter Valley.
Preliminary works have also begun at Muswellbrook and plans are underway to establish new racing and training facilities in Sydney's West, the Mid North Coast region and in the New England region.
Discussions are underway with the Richmond club to complement their oval and straight tracks, sand slipping track and sprint lanes, with a standalone oval training track, a straight sand training track is to be established at Kempsey, a new super track is to be built at Taree, and GRNSW is looking to find a home for a new, potentially sand, straight track to be built in Tamworth.
"It is wonderful to have the support of the minister and the NSW Government and we do have a pipeline of news coming, and I am looking forward to delivering it," said new GRNSW CEO Rob Macaulay.
"This isn't a case of announcing one job and resting on our laurels.
"We have numerous jobs on the go around NSW, and we will continue to audit and upgrade all of our racetracks and trial tracks, to make them all safe racing venues for our dogs and our participants."
This article was produced as part of an ACM partnership with Greyhound Racing NSW.
