The iconic Dapto Dogs race meeting in NSW will end next June. Photo: stock
After almost 90 years, greyhound racing at Dapto, NSW, (Dapto Dogs) will come to an end in 2026.
The decision was made by the owners of Dapto Showground, the Dapto Agricultural & Horticultural Society.
They alerted Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) on Friday that it would not extend the lease on the Wollongong racetrack beyond June 30, 2026.
The first greyhound race meeting at Dapto was held on February 25, 1937.
“GRNSW has been in consultation with the society in recent months about the future of racing at the showground and we held hopes that a long-term extension at the venue may be possible,” GRNSW Chief Executive Officer Steve Griffin says.
They had reportedly sought a 20-year extension on their lease, racing media reported.
“The society informed us that greyhound racing did not align with their long-term goals at the site,” Griffin says.
He predicts the decision, which he says is a commercial one, will disappoint the industry, particularly within the Illawarra.
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There will still be greyhound racing in the Illawarra – at Bulli and Nowra.
GRNSW also owns land at nearby Bong Bong Road and will now investigate developing that site.
“While the Dapto decision is disappointing, we have exciting plans to modernise greyhound racing in the months and years ahead,” Griffin says.
This will include “innovative measures to make it a more visually appealing TV sport for punters across the state and around the world”, he adds.
“We may be in a position to announce some of those changes later this year.”
GRNSW says greyhound racing remains a thriving sport in NSW with 26 racing clubs, holding more than 1200 meetings over 363 days a year involving 14,000 races, attracting almost 170,000 spectators, and paying out more than $50 million in prizemoney.
It says the sport generates more than $800m in economic activity every year with 4500 jobs, almost half of whom are in rural and regional areas.
