The last race has been run at Wentworth Park as the end of greyhound racing at the Sydney venue is widely celebrated, for wildly different reasons.
Friday night’s final of the Million Dollar Chase ended an era that began in 1932, and doggedly continued for years longer than some believe it should have.
Putting it mildly, opinions are split on making dogs race one another. Those in favour consider it a sport, a hobby and a community of people who love dogs. For them, much was lost on Friday night.
Nathan Horrigan’s first trip to Wentworth Park was in the 1990s, as a child. It started a love for greyhounds that’s lasted this long. He’s trained 10 to 15 dogs over the years and had others as pets.
“I’ve had a couple of good ones, and a couple of not so good ones,” Horrigan said.
“I haven’t got any at the moment, but obviously, it’s still in my blood and that’s why I’m here.”
“Most people have pets and have dogs as pets, and these are just, sort of, that special pet for people,” Horrigan said.
“They’re well looked after, better than most average pets,” he said.
It’s a familiar line from those used to defending the industry, while others deride greyhound racing as cruel, out of date and out of chances.
“People don’t realise how well greyhounds get looked after,” Stephen Arnold said.
“You have a look at the domestic dogs, mate, that are getting put down seven days a week at the RSPCA … they don’t want to talk about that, all they do is want to bring greyhound racing to its knees.”
Arnold was found speaking into the phone with one hand and repeatedly raising the other as he engaged in a competitive bidding war with another man for Wentworth Park’s winning post on Friday, the auction raising funds for the Mark Hughes Foundation. The post is bound for greyhound trainer Andy Lord’s property, Arnold said.
“We were just going to keep going,” he said of the bidding battle that eventually ended at $16,500.
Arnold, who is “going on 72”, has been coming to Wentworth Park for 50 years.
“There’s a lot of great memories. It’s going to be a sad night at the end,” he said.
“But, with time, we move on.”
Tommy Cahill first came to Wentworth Park as a boy, aged 12. It’s where he celebrated becoming a man on his 18th birthday. Friday night brought with it emotion and nostalgia.
“I was sitting on the tram here thinking, ‘f---, this is the last time,’” Cahill said.
It’s been just over a decade since former premier Mike Baird backed down on plans to ban greyhound racing across the state. Despite Wentworth Park’s demise, Gaming and Racing Minister David Harris this week said greyhound racing still has “a strong future across metropolitan and regional NSW”.
Greyhound Racing NSW has announced plans to redevelop a site at Richmond on Sydney’s north-west fringe to replace Wentworth Park. Arnold is in favour.
“It could go to no other place but Richmond,” he said.
Horrigan is less sure.
“It’s probably a good idea because a lot of trainers are from there, but the people in the city probably won’t venture to Richmond on a Saturday night to go and enjoy a night at the dogs,” he said.
“This is the home of greyhound racing, it’s been here a long time. [Richmond] wouldn’t feel the same,” Horrigan said.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, among those who instead call Friday’s main event the “Million Dollar Disgrace”, won’t miss the place.
She said Wentworth Park’s closure should be the beginning of the end for greyhound racing “not the start of its next chapter elsewhere”.
“Tens of thousands of people living in high density on the doorstep of the stadium will soon benefit, as it is returned to public parkland,” Moore said on Friday.
Among those living on the stadium’s doorstep are the people who sleep under the nearby railway viaduct, where the queue to get in at one entrance almost reached on Friday night.
In the midst of a housing crisis, there is hope up to 2500 homes will one day join 4800 others planned or approved in the area. The best hope to purchase one might have been winning Friday night’s final race, given the typical prices for a newly built unit in inner Sydney.
Animal Justice Party MP Emma Hurst said Wentworth Park was “one of Australia’s deadliest greyhound racing tracks” and its closure was cause for celebration.
“Wentworth Park belongs to the community. It doesn’t belong to an industry that is killing dogs simply for a hobby,” Hurst said on Friday.
She blamed “spineless” governments for allowing greyhound racing to continue.
For those who are interested in greyhound racing, Magical Ang led from the front and hit her top speed of 68.9km/h on her way to winning the Million Dollar Chase in 29.46 seconds.
Racegoer Paul Margerum celebrated in the stands when the dogs passed the post for the final time, as he won a much less life-changing sum of about $400. He bet on Magical Ang because of the dog’s similar name to his wife Anji.
Fireworks exploded over the dog track before Newcastle band The Screaming Jets took to the stage. Some in attendance took the opportunity to grab a souvenir, snapping off chairs in the grandstand, tearing down banners around the track or scooping some of its loam in a jar to take home.
Despite initial requests to stay off the track, a few dozen set off running a lap anyway, setting some of the slowest laps Wentworth Park has ever seen, or ever will.
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