Since COVID-19 first arrived in Australia in early 2020, people and industries have seen the necessity to be agile and adaptable, and that has been the case in greyhound racing as last week's Coonamble Carnival showed. The Coonamble Carnival is iconic in NSW greyhound racing, and attracts large crowds from around the country when held over the October Long Weekend each year.
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But in 2020 the Carnival had to be cancelled due to COVID-19 and it was again the case during the Statewide lockdowns in 2021. Not wanting to lose the event totally for participants, organisers decided to stage the event as a one-off Carnival around Australia Day in January.
"We had a lot of people worried about the weather but the hottest it got was 33 on Sunday, and we put a lot of measures in place with an eye on the heat, such as air-conditioning and cooling tubs for the dogs," club president Graham Pickering said.
"Our numbers were down, but the racing was still very good, and everyone I spoke to said they enjoyed the Carnival."
Pickering confirmed that the January event was a one-off this year, and they will be back in their regular slot, ready to welcome people back again, on the October Long Weekend in 2022.
The feature event of the Carnival, the Ned Australian Whisky Gold Maiden Final, was won by Kip Keeping, giving leading Dubbo trainer Charmaine Roberts and her partner Shayne Stiff their fifth win in the prestigious event.
This article was produced as part of an ACM partnership with Greyhound Racing NSW.
