$200,000 lure for race track

Bundaberg’s Thabeban Park Racecourse has recieved a $200,000 upgrade.

Rob Barich

A $200,000 upgrade has Thabeban Park Racecourse on par with any major track in Australia, Bundaberg Greyhound Racing Club president Brian Terry said yesterday.

The club spent large on a new lure upgrade that is one of the main reasons Terry is excited about a new decade for Bundaberg racing.

“The old lure was about 30 years old and it kept playing up on us but this new one is fantastic,” Terry said. “I don’t think we’re going to have too much trouble any time soon.

“This upgrade puts us up there with any track in the country.”

Early signs for the 2010 have been encouraging with 10 races to open the year.

Last weekend it was back to the eight race sheet with the New Year’s Cup final drawing some of the best dogs from Bundaberg and beyond.

“We had dogs from Rocky competing and they always put on a good show because they want to beat us down here, like we beat them when we go up there,” Terry said.

Next weekend the racing will be on Saturday but the following weekend the club will trial Sunday racing.

Terry said he hoped Sunday racing would prove a hit with the crowd.

“We just thought it would be a good idea to see if we could draw a bit of a family environment down here,” he said.

Last year the club had a twilight race night as another attempt to reach out to potential fans.

“You’ve got to try and do these things to get people down there and watching your sport don’t you,” Terry said.