One of GRNSW’s many announcements a few days before the 2023 NSW election was the opening of the Cessnock Trial Track.
CEO Rob Macaulay and local MP Clayton Barr attended the opening, with Macaulay bragging that “we have made a number of announcements recently” about track upgrades.
The Hunter Region was praised as a “big region for us” with “a large participant population”.
The Hunter Region is also the site where the bodies of 99 greyhounds were unearthed at the Keinbah Trial Track in 2015.
A report showed most of the dogs were killed by a blow to the head, because “they were found to be underperforming after being trialled, and therefore of no further use.”
The Cessnock and Keinbah tracks are separated by 10km. How many more bodies lie buried in the Hunter Region, victims of “a large participant population” with blood on their hands.
GRNSW CEO at the time Paul Newson said the grave “confirmed everyone’s worst fears that mass graves have been a feature of the greyhound racing industry.”
Greyhound Racing NSW had initially found there was no evidence of a mass grave on the property after a hearing from 13 witnesses. But then the new owners found the 99 bodies.
And then the new owners were suspended in 2019 because a lure was found to be non-synthetic.
But no doubt Mr Macaulay would rather focus on creating headlines before the state election than revisiting the dark heart of the Hunter.
Image shows Google Maps view of Keinbah trial track.