Return of spectators a major boost for Warrnambool Greyhound Racing Club

The Wannon Park-based club has raced largely without spectators since the first wave of COVID-19 restrictions were introduced in March 2020.

It had a brief reprieve - crowds were allowed to attend the club's showcase cup night in May - but it has otherwise been restricted to trainers and staff.

General manager Craig Monigatti said the club was permitted to open its doors to spectators this week but had opted to keep them shut until an industry-wide vaccine mandate for trainers was enacted on Friday.

He said the club - which is financed through both racing and a function centre - had performed solidly through the pandemic without crowds and was on stable footing.

It reported an operating surplus of $84,556 and comprehensive income of $62,197 and significantly increased the cash position of the club.

It came on the back of a big increase in racing activity - there were 63 meetings in the 2019-20 financial year - to 96 in 2020-21. The club is scheduled to clock 108 for the current financial year.

Monigatti said the return of crowds and other functions, such as the club's popular bingo program, would bolster its position again.

"We've been lucky enough to race the whole way through COVID," Monigatti said.

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"We were able to pick up another race meeting (Monday) at the height of the pandemic and we'll keep that going forward post-COVID which is great for the club and industry locally."

Monigatti said the club was delighted to welcome patrons for its summer festival, which is typically a bumper period in line with the city's booming tourism sector in early January.

"It's been 20 months since we've had proper crowd levels so it'll be good to get people back and hopefully get a bit of atmopshere," he said.

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"We've realistically only had essential workers (trainers and staff) on site. Everyone is performing a role so there's been a lack of atmosphere of people up here having a pot and parma and just watching the dogs.

"So hopefully we can get back to that from next week onwards."

The committee is expected to vote Robert Gore in as its president next week. He'll replace Mick White, who is standing down. White will remain on the committee alongside Nick Sheehan and Lyn Kelly.

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