with towcester and wimbledon losing bags contracts

It does seem a pity..one would have thought problems would have been ironed out

Tbh I think BAGS operates on a very tight margin itself, plenty of other tracks will take the slots I should think

...under the GRA Wimbledon can only go one way, Towcester however is different class, facility and forward thinking wise and was a pleasure to attend. Without bags it is probably on borrowed time, to many favourites my arse.......what bags mean is it is far to forward thinking and is not one of our favourites. If only someone with any nouse could get hold of this game rather than the back hander clueless brigade!

When I look at Towcester results...I cant see too many favourites winning??????????
Is there something else here?
They don't put 8 dogs on BAGS either???????????????????????????????????????

putting 8 dog racing on bags would make it too obvious what bags & the bookmakers want,

much easier to grade 6 dog races to cause havok at the first bend.

towcester track is a terrible design if my wide runner was to run their it would pop off to northampton everytime

The big question is whether Clive Feltham is secretly pleased that BAGS have removed their support from Wimbledon. After all he has been an ally of Galliard homes for many years and there is now a much greater chance of them being allowed to build housing on the site.

Does this remind anyone of the beginning of the end at Walthamstow when the Chandlers started running the track down to make it appear unprofitable (largely by making much bigger contributions to the family's pension funds) so that closure became a more acceptable option?

History repeating itself, but don't worry Mr Feltham is still on the main GBGB and BGRF Boards so he must be on the side of Greyhound racing, musn't he?

Can you imagine horse racing being told which tracks may be televised? The body that constantly fail to manage our sport should be telling the bookmakers which racing is available for betting shops. Where there are integrity issues, they should be dealt with again by that toothless body.

wimbledon  have a weak racing strength high kennel bills low prize money

Stow_judge  • November 12, 2015 12:27 PM GMT
Can you imagine horse racing being told which tracks may be televised? The body that constantly fail to manage our sport should be telling the bookmakers which racing is available for betting shops. Where there are integrity issues, they should be dealt with again by that toothless body.

That has always been Greyhounds Racing's problem. The Bookmakers have picked off Greyhound track by track.
They find the weakest tracks and say if we can use you we will pay you and that is it. The promoter accepts because it is probably
that or closing

The Bookmakers increased their own strength, when they own purchased their own tracks.
Their is now an implied threat here, that if it comes to the crunch they will only use their own tracks, even though they would be pushed a bit.

I don't think this is just the Bookmakers fault. There is a failure in our Governments here, they have never protected
Greyhound Racing, they care little if there is no Greyhound racing.
They would not allow Horse racing to die, would they?
Considering the money greyhound racing has generated for them in the past. Our Governments should be ashamed of themselves.

Greyhound Racing is an example of where leaving it to Free Market forces does not necessarily work

the big books have greyhound racing by the balls

yes

The real problem we have with Greyhound Racing in this country is not enough people go to watch Greyhound Racing
not enough people  bet on Greyhound racing.....that applies whoever runs the sport

The Bookmakers are actually quite progressive, they see the solution is to sell English Greyhound to Europe and possibly beyond
and this means more money will be bet on this sport because of the wider audience, I think they are going to use the BAGS/BEGS system to do this....
people must be betting in Greece for a start
only a guess but I think this could be what they are doing.
If not enough people are betting in this country to support it, then greyhound racing has to go wider to survive

Whether this will work is anybody's guess?

Last night in our local social club some of us asked for channel 212 to be switched on. We just have a little fun in picking dogs out for £1 a piece and winner takes all. I was surprised to see how many other members left their seats to watch the races. It just shows that with a little bit of promotion in the right areas the sport can still have a future.

I can see why Wimbledon failed to get another bags contract..that will be closed within two years. Galliard who own the site build houses not promote greyhound racing. No one in the greyhound fraternity has the money to pay the going rate for Wimbledon and develop it.  Towcester seems a strange one as you would think they would do everything reasonable to retain it.  I was at Poole a couple of Saturdays ago and chatting to security who said there were 425 paying customers plus 121 in the Restaurant. The atmosphere was good although the tote was very weak.  I put £20 on a dog and turned it from 4/1 into an odds on favourite.  Poole has two bags meetings a week and doing ok. The council own the stadium and despite rumours to the contrary have no wish to sell for development.  What level of attendance does Towcester get ?

dont know but its free entry

been racing for forty years , seen all the tracks close and in my opinion the best track left for dogs to show their paces is wimbledon....it is the last nail in the coffin

the trouble is the place is a dump

the stow wasn't

will turn into 5 dog handicaps like shawfield

5/2 3/1 specials

Think Towcester would of saved greyhound racing , the only owners willing to invest in the sport , fantastic promotions and presentation , just the track sucks , can't bet there and no interest from the greyhound punters , I.e dog can't win an A4 around there but can win an open at Romford , summat wrong!

Think Towcester would of saved greyhound racing , the only owners willing to invest in the sport , fantastic promotions and presentation , just the track sucks , can't bet there and no interest from the greyhound punters , I.e dog can't win an A4 around there but can win an open at Romford , summat wrong!

Think Towcester would of saved greyhound racing , the only owners willing to invest in the sport , fantastic promotions and presentation , just the track sucks , can't bet there and no interest from the greyhound punters , I.e dog can't win an A4 around there but can win an open at Romford , summat wrong!

from the start it was all about what towcester wanted to do...foreign market, 8 dogs etc
1st rule of business is listen to what your core market wants
sadly towcester did the exact opposite and predictably its fallen flat on its arse
shame

used to organise some corporate nights at wimbledon if you bring along the customers car park was underwater and the restaurant food was disappointing.

the main problem with Towcester, as plenty pointed out at the start, is its IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. The pipedream stuff about streaming it overseas etc etc always seemed just that...the business model is completely crackers. I don't doubt the calibre of the trainers/dogs/owners who have bravely committed to the place....everyone hopes it succeeds and thrives.....but you hardly need to be a brain surgeon to know exactly what is coming soon

most people who have been in this game a long while could see towcester would not work in the long run its about location location

It's looks good from high above but when u see it properly then where's the straights?? It's all bends which are way too wide. 99% of punters like to see greyhounds show their sped on the straights. U can't see it at towcester I'm afraid. Basically if u don't ping and lead at the bend then u don't win. But at least there isn't any trouble round there and dogs not being boxed up for trouble just to make it bingo racing!

dont forget wide runnersthey have very little chance

Think they need to as the song goes rip it up and start again!! Lol... Longer straights and tighter bends. Make it fair for every greyhound and punters.