Secret plan to abandon $90 million greyhound track as death toll hits 21

2 months ago 15

Racing Queensland considered temporarily abandoning its new $90 million flagship facility if the spate of deaths at the troubled Ipswich track continued.

Documents obtained through right to information legislation show Racing Queensland decided to return to Albion Park if conditions at The Q, a newly built $90 million racing complex at Purga near Ipswich, continued to be unsuitable for racing.

The revelations come days after the death of another greyhound at The Q – the 21st to die from injuries sustained at the track this year.

The Q officially opened in June, at a cost of more than $80 million.

Racing at The Q was suspended in July due to unsafe conditions, leading to the cancellation of the annual Brisbane Cup.

Meeting minutes obtained by this masthead show the Racing Queensland board decided to move greyhound racing back to its former home at Albion Park if The Q’s problems continued.

That was to happen in the “event of further track failures at The Q” but greyhound races would not otherwise be scheduled at Albion Park, now predominantly a trotting track.

Data presented to the board showed an injury rate at the two-turn Q2 Parklands track of 3.73 per cent and a mortality rate of 0.25 per cent, meaning one in every 400 greyhounds that raced at on that track perished.

A month earlier, on June 25, board meeting minutes showed optimism about The Q, despite its deadly operational start.

Q2 was expected to have a higher injury rate than the one-turn Q1 in the same complex, the board was told, but features such as transition turns, radius and cambers provided “reason to expect improved rates over time”.

“As reducing serious injuries is an ethical imperative, a transition to a predominance of one-turn and straight track racing should be prioritised,” the FY25 Greyhound Injury Summary and Benchmarking report presented to the board found.

The same report sought to downplay publicity about the greyhound deaths at The Q.

The fall that killed Cool Hand Rio, the 12th greyhound to die as a result of racing at The Q, on July 22.

“The Q facility has drawn media attention in relation to greyhounds sustaining injuries or being euthanised as a result of injuries. There are several nuances behind the headlines that warrant noting,” the report says.

“To 30 June, 12 greyhounds were confirmed as being euthanised as a result of sustaining injuries during racing (4) or trialling (8) at the venue. The majority of these greyhounds were euthanised off-track (7), despite the [Race Meeting Injury Scheme] being available to cover the cost of treating the injuries [redacted text follows].

“The reporting of serious injuries and fatalities and subsequent off-track euthanasia for trials was unique to The Q during the period of familiarity trials overseen by stewards, with no other jurisdiction currently publishing trial data.”

The documents showed trainers were “now happy” with the track in July, yet the deaths continued to mount. By October, the toll had risen to 16.

The documents’ release to this masthead came as yet another greyhound death was recorded at The Q, bringing the total to 21 since races started in March.

The Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds reported the death of Dynamic Ethics, following a serious leg injury on Q Straight last Monday. The FastTrack database showed she was dead by Wednesday.

Less than a month earlier, and after the release of a damning report that found poor track design has contributed to greyhound deaths, Casemiro Magic suffered a serious leg injury on November 20. The FastTrack database showed he was dead by December 9.

Among the governments responses to a review into Queensland racing industry were a new greyhound retirement program and a dedicated greyhound racing media team that would “better recognise the sport’s social contribution, ownership benefits and commitment to strengthening animal welfare”.

“The industry is more interested in creating a propaganda unit than addressing the systemic failures of greyhound racing in Queensland,” Coalition president Amy MacMahon said.

“The state’s animal protection groups are urgently seeking a meeting with Racing Minister Tim Mander to discuss the ongoing failures.”

Mander declined to comment.

The report into The Q’s three tracks – a large one-turn track, a two-turn track and a straight track – was released in mid-October.

It found faulty track designs had contributed to the deaths of 11 greyhounds in less than five months of racing after The Q’s opening. The toll has almost doubled since then.

“The Q is supposed to be the benchmark for greyhound racing but has become a taxpayer-funded, deadly nightmare for dogs. It has claimed at least 21 lives,” MacMahon said.

“Even the straight track at The Q, supposedly the safest form of racing, is killing greyhounds.”