Gawler Greyhound Racing Club celebrates 50 years
THE Gawler Greyhound Racing Club is set to celebrate its 50-year anniversary this weekend, culminating in the running of the Anniversary Cup on Sunday on a bumper card which also features the final of the Gawler Produce Series.
It took years to get the Gawler track off the ground after the idea was first floated by half a dozen men from the SA Greyhound Racing Club in 1967 to hold race meetings at Gawler Oval.
Original funding was raised by the six founders of the club, with a $25,000 loan from the TAB and surprisingly a $10,000 loan from the NSW Greyhound Breeders, Trainers and Owners Association.
8000 patrons attended the first meeting, making it the largest crowd to ever attend a South Australian greyhound meeting at the time.
Since then, the SA Greyhound Racing Club became the Gawler Greyhound Racing Club, and has gone from holding one race meeting per fortnight to now holding two per week.
Opportunities to trial were limited and not welcomed by some councillors, and original facilities didn’t allow for the range of catering, public comfort and function facilities now available.
The biggest change in recent years came with the construction of the Nixon Function Centre in February, 2015, which club secretary Bob May said has ushered in a new era of the Gawler Greyhound Racing Club.
“Not only was it a great for participants, but it enabled the club to attract the public and provide a facility for widespread community promotion and use,” he said.
“The Gawler Greyhound Racing Club is now a hub for the major population of SA greyhounds and trainers, based in the Lewiston, Two Wells and Barossa areas, and as such has always attracted a strong following.
“Gawler has always been the number two ranked track in SA, originally being ranked as the only ‘Provincial’ track, and it offers a ‘close up’ experience which is popular with the public.
“The Town of Gawler is also well known nationally for its racing participation and interest in all racing codes, and so has always been supported.”
Throughout the years, the Gawler Greyhound Racing Club has been an active member of the local community, and can boast the first greyhound race ever broadcast on South Australian television with its special charity Telethon race meeting run with Channel Nine in December of 1971.
The club has since continued to work with local organisations, particularly the Gawler Show Society and Gawler Central Sports Club, as well as hosting many charity functions.
A pillar of the community, the Gawler branch of Rotary conduct their weekly meetings at the Gawler Greyhound Racing Club, while the club also regularly hosts clients of SCOSA for meals on race days, and offers special lunches for retirees on race days.
The track record times have remained untouched for nearly six years now, with Avid Tyson setting the 400m record in 2014, It’s Classified matching Regional Image’s 2003 531m record in 2015, and Bothing is approaching 15 years since setting its 643m record of 36.81 seconds in August of 2006.
An incredibly talented group of greyhounds will be trying to break those records on Sunday, so if you are interested in attending, book ahead with the club by calling 8522 2935.
