Melton Coursing Ready To Celebrate A Legendary Day
Enthusiasts can get nostalgic this Sunday when the Melton Greyhound Racing Club holds its ‘Legends Day'. Melton is home to a special kind of racing experience, coursing, which as many would know is the predecessor of modern day greyhound racing around a circle track. The Melton Greyhound Racing Club has been holding regular coursing meetings since its inception in 1972 with this meeting in particular, sure to be popular.
Melton's Legends Day is being run by the club, in conjunction with the NCA. The day is set to honour the life members of the Melton Greyhound Racing Club who have dedicated themselves to the development of the track. In particular, the day will celebrate the contributions of Stan Cleghorn who, along with his wife Lucy, held the positions of President, Secretary and Treasurer from 1989 to 2003.
Stan is still regarded as an integral member of the Melton greyhound racing community, with a no more appropriate way to thank him for his service over the years than dedicating an event and day to him.
Secretary, Sue Delaney, spoke highly of Stan who also took out the Ken Carr Medal for his contributions to the club and the local industry as a whole
“Stan is 94 years young and he was on the executive committee at Melton for 14 years”, Delaney said.
“He is a well-known identity in the area and an important member of the Melton greyhound fraternity for his contributions towards greyhound racing”.
“Stan used to get trainee race callers so that they could learn the craft at our race meetings”.
The inaugural Legends day is being held at the meeting which is simultaneously celebrating 140 years of the Waterloo Cup, the supreme coursing event scheduled to be run at Longwood on the 31st August and the 1st September 2013.
There will be a ten race card on the Legends day this Sunday, with three main events.
The High Four Pet Supplies Trophy will be the main feature of the day followed by the Stan Cleghorn All Age Bitches event and the Canine Pregnancy Scanning Maiden. There will also be five puppy events which will be named after other influential life members who have had a significant impact on the club.
In addition to the coursing action, there will also be a special display of vintage motor vehicles to keep with the ‘legends' theme of the day. With so much planning going into the day, the club is hoping for a great turn out, not just to show support for Victorian coursing but also their appreciation for a great man who has dedicated many years for the future of our sport.
“We are hoping for a good crowd”, Delaney said, “The only thing that could get in the way is if we had really bad weather”.
“The mayor of Melton will be here as well as the life members. It will be a social day with lots of good food and we have 10-15 vintage cars which will be on display”.
At present, there just two straight tracks left in Victoria so it is now or never if we want the industry to thrive and continue to move from strength to strength. Coursing is one of the most traditional aspects of greyhound racing, making it critical that it survives in order to retain our heritage and appreciate the simplest aspect of why we race dogs- for the thrill of the chase.
The first course kicks off this Sunday at Melton at 10am.