FORTY years of greyhound racing at the Wagga Showground will be celebrated on Friday night.
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The Bill Jolley Memorial Final (400m) is the feature of the program but the night will also be a trip down memory lane for a number of participants.
After previous homes at the Wagga Cricket Ground and McPherson Oval, greyhound racing found a new home at the Showground.
The track has undergone a number of changes in the past 40 years and Kevin Oakman believes the move as a good one.
“It’s been good," Oakman said. “I’ve won a few races at both tracks so I’m pretty happy.”
The Wagga trainer took out the first race at the new venue when Elvuka scored a six length victory.
It was the only dog he raced on the night, but 40 years on the win is a special thing for Oakman and his wife Barbara.
Comparing the first track to the one the was once raced on at Harold Park, Oakman has seen a number of changes in his long career in the industry.
“The first track they put down was a very good track – it was probably as good as any in NSW,” Oakman said.
“But then they changed it when the Show Society put a new trotting track and had to shrink the size of it and we got have we have now.”
Among the winners on the first night at the Showground was New Tidings, a Jerilderie bitch who also won the last race at the North Wagga circuit.
A number of big name Victorian trainers came down for the meeting as did successful Orange trainer Jack Pringle scored a win with Daisy Bates.
“Atrocious” weather lashed the club on its debut at its new home and Oakman is hoping the weather clears in time for the meeting.
“It was very successful,” Oakman recalled. “There was 10 bookmakers, which is a thing of the past now there was no TAB of course.
“The weather kept the crowd down a bit but there was still a bit of a crowd there.”
At the age of 81 Oakman has tried retiring but still hasn’t given away the game, believing it keeps him in good health.
He is looking forward to bringing a couple of pups to the races around his birthday later this year.
After being introduced to the sport by his father-in-lay Bill Blackburn, Oakman’s son Rod and a number of his granddaughters have followed him into the sport.
Rod has three greyhounds racing but failed to qualify any to the race named after his father-in-law, Jolley.
The first race is at 7.15pm with the feature set to run at 9.34pm.
