A huge crowd packed into Dapto Showground on Thursday night to watch the final greyhound race at the historic venue. Photo: Supplied.
Officials were forced to shut the gate at the final “Dapto Dogs” meet on Thursday night, as thousands of people turned up to farewell the iconic venue.
After almost 90 years of racing at the Dapto Showground, Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) staged its final race meeting in a nostalgic night for the large crowd.
GRNSW leases the dog track around the showground from Dapto Agricultural & Horticultural Society (AHS), but earlier this year the society decided not to renew the lease beyond 2026.
The organisation decided the best way to properly say goodbye to Dapto would be on the club’s night of nights, the night of Group 1 Ladbrokes Megastar.
One of the largest crowds to visit the venue in recent years forced officials to shut the gates. After the last race, the crowd was allowed onto the track and given containers to take home some sand from the hallowed circuit.
Leading trainer Andy Lord paid $10,000 at auction for the famous Dapto winning post, with the money raised going to the Mark Hughes Foundation.
The final Group 1 Ladbrokes Megastar feature event was won by Eriza Sparkles trained at Nowra by Steve Fitch.
The first Dapto meeting was held on 25 February 1937 and quickly became a magnet for punters, with hundreds of bookmakers lining the venue and thousands packing the stands.
In 1939, Dapto became the first NSW club to introduce night racing under lights and in the decades that followed, Dapto continued to make history.
It was among the first tracks in NSW to switch from grass to loam, a specialised clay-and-sand surface that improved racing safety and performance.
The greyhound racing track at the showground will be no more. Photo: Region.
In 1991, the club stunned the global racing scene with the Greens Super Coat Classic, offering a world-record $100,000 first prize – the highest greyhound purse in the world at the time.
In the late 1990s the venue hit mainstream media when avid industry supporter, the late rugby league star Terry Hill, regularly brought the Channel 9 Footy Show cameras to Dapto.
They also famously promoted the greyhound Nads which was trained by Greg Wynn and would raise more than $250,000 for the Children’s Hospital.
GRNSW CEO Steve Griffin said the final night of racing at the track was amazing.
“It’s so pleasing to see that the Dapto track was given the farewell it thoroughly deserved tonight,” he said.
“But this evening was about so much more than racing. I spoke with people tonight who have been coming here for 20, 30, 40 years and for all of them, tonight was about those memories and friendships which have been forged here at Dapto.
“Of course it was a night tinged with sadness, but we also wanted it to be a night of celebration and I think that’s exactly what it was.
“I believe that we all should feel lucky to have experienced Dapto, and we shouldn’t be sad because it’s over, we should be happy that we take away so many lasting memories.”
Dapto A&H Society CEO Katrina Novak said earlier this year that retaining racing operations would significantly limit the society’s capacity to deliver on long-term plans for The Groundz Precinct.
“We must prioritise flexibility and the ability to meet the growing needs of our local community,” she said.
Ms Novak said the society would face a huge task once GRNSW vacated the site, as the agreement meant they would be left to dispose of the sand, track and associated infrastructure.
“That will be a big task. There’ll be lots of planning for us over the next number of months,” she said.
