Racing will return to Forbury Park today for the first time in more than five months as the dogs stretch their legs.
Much has happened at the St Kilda venue since the last meeting on March 6 — a low-key harness racing meeting.
Both the Forbury Park Trotting Club and the Otago Greyhound Racing Club lost meetings because of the Covid-19 lockdown and its subsequent impact on the racing industry.
The clubs were left off the draft calendar for the 2020-21 season and the future looked bleak for the venue and the clubs. But after some lobbying the two clubs have been given dates in the new season.
The greyhound club will get under way with a 10-race card starting at noon.
Otago Greyhound Racing Club general manager John Carlyle said the club wanted to have 12 races but had to be content with 10 which Carlyle said was frustrating.
The club would have a small meeting of six races when the harness club had its first meeting back at Forbury Park on October 1. After that, the schedule had not been decided by Greyhound Racing NZ.
Carlyle said the club had been offered similar small meetings through the season but they were not financially viable. The club wanted to host more and longer meetings and felt there was the dog population in Otago and Southland to sustain 10-race meetings. It had more than 25 meetings scheduled last season.
Darfield trainer John McInerney has 48 dogs entered in the meeting today.
The club will be following social distancing.
