Nathan,

Agreed. But note that the two city tracks plus Traralgon have the only 600s in Victoria. All other options are longer or shorter.

Races in that category have declined from 7.1% to 5.7% over 10 years.

All 600s (and the 660/680m bracket) have nasty bend starts and are therefore awkward betting propositions.

The 600s attract quite a few good dogs but most are those which have run out of grades or are not competitive over 500m. And most fade. The same applies to the 660m/680m bracket.

The 725m Handicap was run in pedestrian time.

Good on MGRA for having a crack at longer races. (Note Sandown actually runs a little higher proportion of 600m-700m races than Meadows). Last night's times were average - 7 to 12 lengths above the record.

Sure, there are ups and downs but the overall pattern is clear - there are now fewer longer races and fewer dogs which can handle them. I don't know how much of that is due to race programming or personal attitudes/techniques of trainers but all we can go on is what they actually do.

The breed is weakening. The product is worsening.

On the racing in your external link - very interesting. I had not thought about using the National Library although I have been through the microfiche at the Newcastle and Mitchell/State libraries.

1. Then and now regional clubs never really offered 700m racing - max is a bit over 600m.
2. The proliferation of country clubs tells us that interest was widespread - and maybe still is, despite many closures.
3. Just quickly, there were plenty of 800 yard races at HP.
4. Today, races numbers for 600m-plus are lower than they were in the past (whatever base you use) AND performances are relatively poorer except for the really top dogs.
5. There is good historical evidence that 700m city racing was always a feature, albeit that it is beyond the "typical" capacity of the greyhound. Whether stamina improvement is possible from a breeding or training aspect is the point that is up for grabs. That's what I am asking.
6. It's not just a question of dumping on short distance racing, but of assessing whether running 64% of all races over 400m or less is a desirable policy. Should it be 54% or 44% or whatever?
7. As a complete novice in the area, I can only observe the dominance of pure sprinters Head Honcho and Brett Lee over the past two decades. I seriously doubt Fernando Bale's theoretical ability to run out 600m or more but Barcia Bale may be different. Still, it takes two to tango or to produce pups.

Anyway, it is a complex subject with lots of evidence that needs proper analysis. All I know is that there is a definite trend for the worse.

And you are not older. I doubt you ever had a bet on Dreams Image or Gorgeous George. I did. With proper bookies, of course. I even helped a bit with driving around leading HP bookie Jack Smith - including calling out the running numbers for him from the hill at Bulli (Jack was half blind but at home he had a room full of form cards for all dogs, prior to the Wigleys producing decent provincial guides).

PS: Coincidentally, Jack and I both lived at the modern day Epping, which happened once to be the name of the racetrack and the suburb where HP is located.

Dan

You are 100% right with that

So many trainers take the easy and impatient way out to put their dogs over 400m instead of trying to craft a career over 500m+

With the amount of 400m races available its just far too convenient

If we had regular maiden series over at least 450m (horseshoe) - 500m worth a bit of money you would find that trainers would start to set their dogs for these races rather than plug them into the squib races as soon as they are fit enough to run 350m

Obviously if they have had a few goes and are struggling with the extra distances we need options for those dogs as well