At Shepparton, a new 385m trip from Roll On Boxes will replace the old 390m fixed start. GRVs idea is to encourage greyhounds to run in a straighter line out of the boxes rather than deviating towards the rail, following advice from UTS.

This follows a similar change at Horsham (410m only).

But now comes the hard part. Simultaneously, GRV has decided to do away with the centre (high, hooped) lure and replace it with a tightly positioned low, dual bunny lure.

So these new boxes at Horsham and Shepparton are aimed at reducing any deviation to the rail yet the new style lures are smack on the rail and will tend to do the opposite.

Presumably, there are some comparative injury figures lying around which support the changes but we have yet to see them.

And none of this appears to pay much heed to the fact that the dogs themselves will decide whether they stick to the rail or run in the centre or wide on the track.

Underlying the whole deal is the assumption that widely-spaced boxes are not desirable for unknown reasons. Yet observations and data for starts like Bathurst 520m and Ipswich 520m provide no help at all for that theory. Generally, those runs to the turn are more interference-free as the dogs tend to move away from each other. (Once they hit the turn is another subject).

In contrast, at the worlds worst start Dapto 520m the boxes are squeezed up against the line of the running rail with the result that the inside couple of dogs are regularly pushing to the right at the jump and tightening the line of others in the field. This is why winning box figures are skewed towards the outside where the running is freer.

^^ With the greatest of respect Ray - how many lures do you educate them to chase Ray? One, two or ten?

Other than that I agree with your points raised on lures closer to ground with a tail. But I can only cite my "low grade" stock as examples unless you'd like to hand me a group dog. :)

I try not to name other dogs that fail to perform under the new lure deisgn because the fail to chase and marring statistics reveal that.

Do you want to educate your dogs to chase and obtain one prize or have many many things to chase at once?

And if you actually paid any attention at all to earlier comments posted in this thread I did mention some have thrived on the new design. Yes some of my "low grade" squibs really like the double lure.

Do I agree with 6 or 8 dogs chasing multiple objects...hmm.. duhh

Irrespective - the decision has been made. There are people and there are sheeple that follow the herd without question or dissent (mostly for fear of repercussions), I truly admire the GRSA decision to follow Victoria in trialing a dual-lure. As a board member, you share partly in this accountability. Hope it works out for all and sundry involved.

In the meantime, I will maintain a stance that one prize for which all dogs compete is the best approach. I don't want to see dogs shifting from left to right and left again based on line of sight and the dog trying to work out if one is slower or going to come off the rail... wanna see this in real life? watch the Galgos (plumpton coursing) in Spain.. when presented with multiple targets, dogs try to ascertain the slower/easier object to grab and adjust their line accordingly.

Lastly, rule 101 in any political debate (which this dual lure most certainly is) is that the opposing side will attempt to discredit an argument. In your case this is based on a "low-grade dog with moderate ability" being cited. Sure Ray, let's say I am a low grade trainer too with moderate dogs. I will agree with you.

There is a place for low grade dogs and their servants (trainers), otherwise we'd have no industry or supply left at all and this forum would already be dissolved.

None of which takes away from the facts I am presenting. Multiple lure use on a circle track or straight track is contrary to every early education principle in chasers and no animal behavioural science was appplied to the UTS study, it was an engineering exercise based on GPS plots and statistical analysis. It's the implementation I question moreso than the raw technological data analysis the academics have come out with to reach our current state of affairs.

How many lures do you use to break in your own dogs? Forget about the rest of my earlier posting if you like but as a breaker how many teasers do you give them at once when educating?

btw Jason, I think it's admirable you named the dog for the purpose of the discussion.

Thanks mate for that - I named my own rather than others because it's not good form to point out failings in other dogs as I have no direct connection with them or knowledge of what else is going on.

I did go out on a limb and name Spandau Ballet as the form pre and post lure change was pretty apparent.

True story - I was out at Sandown Park with Ray Fewings on October 13th - we were both watching Race 5. A dog called Callum's Son marred another dog and was suspended.

I am not blaming the dual lure on this event as I don't know the dog but I found it amusing we'd just finished verbally disagreeing with each other on the relative merits of the double bunny when this happened not 20 seconds later. Coincidence? Maybe. Ironic? Definitely.

Anyway, Harlow's retired (my example of a dog that developed some really bad habits) and we move on doing the best we can with the stock we have and the conditions we are confronted by.

No matter whether you're a cheerleader of the new lure or a little questioning of it HAPPY AND SAFE 2020 to all and sundry especially if dealing with the bushfires in your region!!