My last visit to Olympic was a year or so before it closed. At the time I got the impression the grandstand was Stage 1 of a long term development (which never happened). There was also a small glassed-in section of the same grandstand - for premium diners? All past the post.

Consistent with its more recent thinking, OLY had the worst 311m start in the history of greyhound racing and the main straight was not straight - it was curved all the way, much like the old home straight at Gosford. No idea why.

Today the same club now has no grandstand at all at MEA, just a small balcony which only group hirers can access, and a badly biased track where they have tried three different configurations for the 500 while trying without success to make the trip easier to manage. All for $13m in old money.

The relevance to photo finishes is that you cannot reasonably judge the finish from a point past the post so fans sitting in the OLY stand were not well placed. At that time I stood half way down the home straight where I could get the best overall impression of the race - but I do that everywhere.

Memories are always risky, Ian, as the judge said the other day. Maybe someone will have a picture.

The totality of all this is that colours, cameras and viewing make up a huge part of the racing spectacle for the fans yet we do a very mediocre job of handling them.

PS: I will have to take another look at Shepparton as its camera position was suspect, too. Another is the Lithgow grandstand, which is almost past the post as well.

PS2: Another example was that the original (newly-built) Gardens layout was accompanied by a skewed camera angle and a blockage of the view of the 520m start for many fans (later repaired).

PS3: The two best views of the action have been at Moss Vale (cum deckchair) and Beaumont Park (cum grandstand) - both now deceased.

And so it goes on. The lack of attention to detail is endemic in this business.

Bruce,

You are starting to argue with yourself.

You want spectators to be in a position close enough to the finish, to be able to judge the result for themselves.

Yet at the same time, you choose to watch races from half way down the home straight, to get the best overall impression of the race.

Not really. You are mixing apples with oranges.

I have already pointed out that 95%-plus of fans are not at the track but watching SKY, etc. So what SKY does or what is fed to SKY is paramount.

If I am at the track I watch from a compromise position, some way up from the post and leave judging to the judges. That's a personal deal but it is also ancient history.

Today, I am virtually all with the former group, not the latter.

There are a number of reasons for that. First, with all its faults, pictures on the computer are easier and faster to access, never mind whether I am at home or at the TAB. (But note replays of replays are very awkward to get on Ozchase - GRV is OK). Second, this is a national industry where far flung racetracks can be of interest and I don't have a magic carpet. And you can never be sure about the club's "away" coverage. Third, there are few or no bookies at the track and I would not bother with any of the corporates anyway - all rip-off prices and rules.

Separately, there are folk who develop programs aimed at querying and optimising betting based on real time access to prices and pools. (We used to be able to do that but TABCORP got too touchy about open access and shut down the URL). In any event, current pool sizes militate against the practice. Not so at the gallops, of course, which is why they still have commission rooms full of pros.

If you think about it, we have degenerated from a fairly picky, selective industry to one where anything goes - very slapdash. That's why you keep seeing over-bet favourites created by people who cannot do the form, even if they had it in the first place.

But go back to the reason for this thread (and for the whizzbang GRV app, and for the product mix pushed by TABCORP and others). It's all aimed at mugs in pubs, not real punters. Indeed, some of those mug products - ie Mysteries and boxed Trifectas - serve to ruin the rewards for knowledgeable punters by reducing end dividends. It's just basic maths.

But nevermind, my earlier comments were all directed at making the race more attractive and more interesting to those mugs in pubs. If that is all we have then you have to cater for them.

PS: I stand to be corrected but on checking I think the Shepparton camera is actually set up prior to the post, not after it. But it is hard to tell. Whatever, so far as I can determine, there are no standards for cameras or camera positions in this country. It's one of those areas where "she'll be right, mate". SKY itself is not interested - "it's the club's responsibility".

The funds to keep your two dogs running comes from ... where?

Bruce,

Pardon the pun, but I do feel you need to look at the overall picture.

Yes, they are watching SKY, but on what? a big screen in the pubtab or their lounge room, or their Iphone, smartphone, Ipad, desktop computer, or the small monitors scattered around the racetracks.

I can see some merit with the horses offering a slightly better picture of the finish, due mainly to their higher number of close/blanket and horses wide apart finishes, as a result of their handicapping system.

IMO any money spent on improving the race picture for the greyhounds, would be better spent elsewhere to promote the sport.

That's got nothing to do with what colours a pup (dogs) like to chase. You started out on topic and morphed this into the same discussion you've had on other threads, people get tired of it and some have even dropped out of GD because of it.

Yes, you are right - we probably have moved a bit too far from the original lure colour subject (introduced by others, not me). Still, rug colours and the overall presentation of the event is a natural progression.

If you consider that presentation is perfect you are free to ignore the whole thread and go your own way. I don't, primarily, but not only, because every club and every SKY coverage is different and many are third class or worse. That's not good enough for a modern industry.

And I reject the last part of your comment - you are repeating unsubstantiated gossip. It makes no sense.

Here's an indirect illustration. Many years ago I started writing Letters to the Editor of the Recorder, which was virtually unheard of at the time. Pretty soon, two things happened. Lots of other folk started doing it, too, giving voice to a wider cross section of the industry. Secondly, the Recorder asked me to contribute a weekly column, which I did for several years. In both cases, you can be sure it did no harm to the Recorder's circulation (ie, the opposite of what you claim about G-D).

None of that entitles me to bust Tony's rules, of course, so I shall have to pay more attention.

Meantime, this blog is for greyhound "enthusiasts", not just for trainers or for people who do not agree with me. I am an enthusiast.