Central West trainers are thrilled with the announcement that TAB racing will resume at Lithgow within the next month, according to club president Sid Swain. GRNSW has confirmed that racing at Lithgow is set to restart soon.
In March 2023, GRNSW announced a $3 million upgrade to elevate Lithgow to TAB standard after the closure of racing at Bathurst due to a rare flood event. Despite the initial announcement, the project's cost has now risen to $4 million, and disagreements with the government over funding from the remaining $18.3 million in the Capital Grants Program have delayed progress. While the track itself has not seen any updates, a new kennel block has been installed.
GRNSW CEO Rob Macaulay explained in a release that the project has been awaiting state government funding approval for six months. He noted, "Our participants in the Central West have been very patient. We have decided not to wait while we continue to chase funding approval. We are going to resume TAB racing at Lithgow in the next two to three weeks. We have finished all of our kennel work and will now replace the boxes and get on with racing."
Swain admitted that the GRNSW announcement was unexpected but welcomed by trainers. He remarked, "Trainers will welcome this news. Once you get past Richmond, Lithgow is just an hour away, but it is then four hours to Dubbo, and trainers need Lithgow to be racing. On the other side of the bridge, there are plenty of tracks for trainers. There has been a lot of pressure from trainers to get racing started again at Lithgow. It is a colossal track and a very unbiased greyhound track."
Trials have continued at Lithgow every Friday and Sunday since racing halted a year ago, with many trainers utilising the complex. Swain added, "Now that the kennel block is completed, we can look forward to racing again."
Lithgow was slated for a complete renovation, but delays in the Taree track's completion have held up funding. Swain mentioned, "I suppose we can expect to have the grandstand done as we go along."
Swain, who has been the club president for the past year after moving to the Lithgow area a decade ago, looks forward to the resumption of racing at Lithgow.