Cowra Set To Resume Racing

Written By Kevin Pitstock, Editor & Australian Greyhound Racing Expert Contributor Monday 12th May 2008  

Stewards from the Greyhound and Harness Racing Regulatory Authority (GHRRA) met with Cowra Greyhound Racing Club officials at Bathurst on Thursday afternoon to stage an inquiry into the club’s use of an unlicensed lure driver at a March 20 meeting.

They confirmed the club would be free to again resume racing later this month.

The peak body slapped the club with a fine, but also snapped their two-month suspension which has been in force since mid-March.

“We got fined for doing the wrong thing, that was to be expected, but we’re back on May 31,” president Peter McDonald said.

Cowra is set to resume racing with a day meeting. The lifting of the suspension has also paved the way for the club to go ahead with its feature June long weekend carnival.

The Saturday and Monday meets are expected to include the prestigious Kevin Codner and Noel O’Malveney Memorial races.

The inquiry chaired by a number of high-ranking Sydney stewards was expected to be held at greyhound headquarters in Sydney last month, but was postponed and moved to Bathurst last Thursday.

Cowra Greyhound Racing Club was charged with using an unlicensed lure driver outside of the code’s rules and making a public announcement thanking a person from Bathurst for coming up to drive that race.

It was later discovered the person in question never attended the Cowra meeting.

Speaking to the Cowra Guardian shortly after the March 20 meeting, GHRRA chief executive officer John Coughlan was clearly irate with the Cowra club’s actions.

“They didn’t follow the rules, defying the directives of a (local) steward and you don’t do that in our industry,” he said.

But the decision last Thursday means upwards of a dozen local trainers can again race in Cowra on a regular basis.

Courtesy : Cowra Guardian

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