You and your mates are offering individual examples. I and some others have always said that the "rule" applies to most dogs, not all.

The question then is whether you make the rule for the exception or for the vast majority.

The related issue is that if you ignore what is happening to the majority, what does that put at risk?

Kenyans and Ethiopians did not gain their abilities overnight but over generations. Alaskan Huskies love going for hours, not so greyhounds. African Americans are terrible at swimming but brilliant on the track (and on the NFL field). Europeans dominate skiing, although different geographical groups tend to succeed in short versus long races.

In such cases, we have a fair idea of the reasons for success, largely involving genetics, environments or heritage. Can you say the same for greyhounds?

i think you need to ask your self ,if the following litter had been reared in OZ , BROKEN in in OZ, raced in OZ .

How many races do you think they would have run between them.
if they had raced in Australia

BELLA INFRARED X BELLA GUCCI

21 offspring .from 3 litters
races run. 1485 all in USA

all pups named. as you know ,this is not the case in OZ

this is why the stats in OZ are very dubious.

i would think that a lot of these pups would have gone to the breakers, how many would have returned sound enough to start racing at sixteen months of age .

also ,how many have raced 286 times like Mega Gemma
she stated racing at 16 months old and is still racing.
this July she had 12 races. thrives on her racing .

you need to look at the track layout,

your people cant see the wood for the trees.

just look how the USA tracks are laid out
like the old tracks in UK.
no bend starts
no catching pen
winning post in right place
boxes in correct position
lure not flying round high in the air

no racing on rock hard surfaces

as a current owner and ex breeder .i had a bitch in WA that needed 700 mt .in a low grade. however she is still racing over 290 mt , no low grade staying races at any of the three tracks in WA.

Seems pointless racing her over 290m

i know you love your stats,here is one to get your teeth into.

BRETT LEE 4873 named offspring

raced 100 times or more total 137

raced 200 times or more total 1

BELLA INFRARED 1021 NAMED OFFSPRING

Raced 100 times or more total 202

raced 200 times or more total 14

please note this includes dogs named but not of age to race.

all dogs are named in USA well before schooling takes place

as i have said before, in OZ most dogs are not named until they have been broken in , only those with a future get to be given a name .

this makes the facts that something needs to change before you can reach a point when people can say all is being done to give greyhound racing a good name.
we have a good sport but more needs to be done.

try some ginger nuts with your cup of tea Bruce.

keep up all the good work you do Bruce

Megga Gemma

12 races in July 2018

286 races and still going strong

Wal,

I would be interested to know/read what your source did to come up with the 4 day guide. Never heard that before. Bear in mind I can go only on what a range of qualified people say plus what I see in practice on the track.

One item of interest was Dr John Kohnke pointing out that dogs which pulled out all the stops in an LAW win probably needed a longer spell to replenish the juices. In any event, race analysis suggests that dogs which took it easier in the first half of the race (Sweet It Is etc) were more able to back up in 7 days. Those two points are consistent with one another.

On staying races, the hard facts are that (a) most - say two thirds - run slower times after only a 7 day break and (b) the records are littered with cases of top dogs which fail the second time around - check out Space Star, Xlyia Allen, etc.

At the high end of the scale, Marathons have been discontinued now, which is a good thing because analysis showed that the vast majority never, ever, regained their previous form after competing over 900m or whatever. Only a few freaks could do it - see Dancers Reward, for example, but it did nothing for the first 500m.

Coming back, it is a fact that the majority of dogs are fading at the end of 500s - this is not a surprise as the greyhound reaches its maximum average speed at around 435m and progressively declines past that.

If you were to stick that all on a graph it would confirm the general picture of a breed which is optimised below 500m but where there are obviously some which like something longer - just as humans are split up into sprinters and stayers.

The missing element - datawise - is the relative metabolisms of the various sectors, and their breeding, and how that matches the performance records. EG fast twitch and slow twitch muscles and all the rest of it. Meantime, I can go only on what is presented on the track.

I can't readily pull up hard evidence of claims by vets, mainly because there is not a lot, and in many cases it is no more than an opinion by a vet rather than a carefully organised study involving large sample numbers. However, if I remember correctly Dr Des Fegan (ex National Tabform) did write something about it. But I will look harder.

Irrespective of all that, the greyhound evidence on the track is huge (but not absolute) while the human evidence on quick back ups (footballers etc) is also significantly in favour of the longer break. Thoroughbreds need (or get) even longer breaks. Even the AFL is still arguing about the value of a gap week prior to the finals.

It is not precision science but the end result is that you cannot be too sure what any dog will do if it has to back up quickly. Consequently, there is a risk imposed on the health of the animal and on the pocket of the punter. The longer the trip the bigger the impact.

It's not a dream, mate, it's the best I can do after sifting the available evidence.

On Bella Infrared etc - it's misleading to address individual cases when it's a whole of breed issue. Which is why for years I have been called for an independent annual report on The State of the Breed.

Not only is that missing but at the moment we have no national stats at all (they have been taken off the GA site) and what was there before was two or three years old. The stud book remains but there is no connection between that and the racing stats. GD is very good for breeding info but unreliable for racing stats (plain wrong, actually).

State by state data might be helpful for some purposes but not for breeding, which is by nature a national matter dependent on the whims and the homes of the respective owners.

Betting turnover is in much the same category - a dog's breakfast.

The common thread is that all racing is run by separate bureaucracies which may or may not speak to each other - or to participants, for that matter.

Back to your other points ......

There is little evidence, as such, that the high/wide lure is better or worse than its predecessors. Personally, I would guess better on the ground that it assists somewhat in keeping runners apart and reducing misbehaviour.

The FOL has scored one track out of 70 or so (Geelong), plus some fiddling in South Australia. GRV has provided no reports of its value yet. Nor of the new lures. SA and Qld have reported on the hooped lure - successful in improving FTC and Fighting rates - and on the accompanying FOL trials.

Whatever the change, you can survey 10 trainers and get 11 different opinions (one will change his mind half way through).

The variability in surface hardness is unknown because there is no standard and the actual experience is not recorded.

PS: when someone tells me a dog is thriving on two races per week, I would like to ask if it would race better if going around only once a week. Who knows?