End of an area as 'Wenty' dogs holds final race after 94 years

For 94 years a night out at the dogs at Wenty, as it's known to locals, has been a Sydney institution.

A sell-out crowd turned out to witness the end of an era as the starting gates rose for the final time, marking the end of greyhound racing at Wentworth Park.

For many dog owners, trainers and punters, it was a night tinged with sadness and nostalgia.

"I'm been coming here with my mother and father since I was eight-years-old, so I have got to come for the last night," trainer Ron Marsden said.

"Sad to see it go especially as I don't live that far away."

John Hill from Orange, part-owner of a dog called Fearless Bandit running in the final race, the Million Dollar Chase, said he had been coming to the track for 45 years.

"It's a bit of a shame, it's been here for 90-odd years," he said.

Arriving at the turnstiles, the 6,000 ticket holders were greeted by a jubilant collection of animal rights protesters who gathered in a park across the road to celebrate the occasion.

"We are here to say good riddance to greyhound racing in the city," Greens MP Kobi Shetty said.

"We want to see greyhound racing shut down for good so this is a step in the right direction."

Protester John Papanidis said the closure of Wentworth Park was a huge victory for campaigners.

"This is the jewel in the crown of the racing industry," he said.

"They're trying to celebrate tonight, but it's a huge loss for them and a win for the greyhounds."

Inside, a blast of trumpet over the loudspeakers was the cue for trainers to file into the parade enclosure, leading dogs muzzled and draped in their racing colours.

'Night out at the dogs at Wenty'

Greyhound racing started at Wentworth Park in October 1932.

Early races were held on the grass before a track with a mechanical tin hare was constructed in 1939 at a cost of 33,000 pounds.

A "night out at the dogs at Wenty" soon became a Sydney institution, with crowds as big as 15,000 people crammed into the Glebe racetrack on a Saturday night, jostling for a glimpse of champion dogs such as Qualinor, Zoom Top and Farraflash.

In the betting ring, bookmakers shouted out the odds, depositing cash in the heavy leather bags strung around their neck.

"It was part of the working class culture of the area," Max Solling, historian and author of Going to the Dogs: A History of Greyhound Racing in NSW told the ABC.

"People were coming here to hope that they're going to win something on the dogs, fame or riches even better.

"Very few ever succeeded."

By the 1960s, the crowds at Wentworth Park had dwindled to a few hundred with the advent of off-track betting.

"The decline of attendance is wholly due to the TAB," Mr Solling said.

"The attendance spiralled down and stayed down, never recovered. You would be lucky to have 500 people here because it's all online."

A ban and a reversal

In July 2016, following a scandal over allegations of animal cruelty in the sport, then NSW premier Mike Baird announced a ban on greyhound racing in the state from July 2017.

The announcement sparked a fierce backlash from the industry and its supporters on both sides of politics.

Hundreds of protesters joining what was dubbed the Fair Go Rally,  marching on Parliament House in Macquarie Street to demand the ban be overturned.

Three months later, with his approval ratings in decline, the premier reversed his decision, agreeing to give the sport "one last chance", and allocating $41 million in government money to fund the reforms.

According to Mr Solling, the debate over animal cruelty in greyhound racing gave rise to accusations of double standards when it came to the treatment of horse racing.

"It's clearly about class," he said.

"They're not going to close down the Melbourne Cup, why do they do it to the dogs?"

Plans for new home

Then in July this year came yet another surprise announcement.

"The venue no longer suited our participants who are largely located outside the Sydney basin," Greyhound Racing NSW CEO Steve Griffin said at the time.

For now, racing will shift to Gosford on the Central Coast, but Greyhound Racing NSW has announced a longer term plan for a move to Richmond, in Sydney's north-west, following an upgrade of the existing facilities there.

"The new Sydney Metropolitan Racing Precinct, once constructed, will also secure the industry's financial future with revenue coming into the sport from greater use of the facility," Mr Griffin said.

"Additionally, unlike Wenty, we own the site so can never be removed from it, which is a great position for the sport to be in."

At the same time, the racing club at Wentworth Park, the NSW Greyhound Breeders, Owners and Trainers Association, announced this week it was looking at a site near Appin, in south-west Sydney.

Whichever option eventuates, the NSW government has promised $10 million in government funding to help with the transition.

"We think it's time to just call it on greyhound racing, and that $10 million could have been spent elsewhere."

The racetrack at Wentworth Park is now set to be demolished with the Crown land transferred to the City of Sydney Council.

The plan is for the site to be converted into sports fields and parkland for public use.

"We know that Ultimo and Pyrmont are two of the most densely populated suburbs in Australia so there is a desperate need for more places for people to play," Ms Shetty said.

Work on the demolition of the grandstand, built at great cost in 1987, is expected to start before Christmas.