No more Tuesday greyhound racing at Hove's Coral Stadium (From The Argus)

No more Tuesday greyhound racing at Hove's Coral Stadium

9:00am Tuesday 25th August 2009

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The man who pulled the plug on Tuesday night racing at Hove has described the decision as a no-brainer.

Coral Stadium will keep its doors shut on a Tuesday once tonight’s 12-race programme has been completed.

David MacDonald, recently appointed as head of stadia for both Hove and Romford, said a reduction to two nights of racing per week at the Sussex circuit was an easy decision to make.

Figures did not add up as about 80 members of staff catered for attendances as small as 200.

The meetings had also lost subsidy from the Bookmakers Afternoon Greyhound Service (BAGS) and were thought to be costing the track about £4,000 a time to run.

MacDonald said: “It was a purely commercial decision.

“Tuesday racing has not been popular for a while.

“I spoke to bookmakers, owners, trainers and there’s no appetite for the Tuesday meeting.

“It was time to pull the plug. It will affect some of the staff but we’re in consultation with them and trying to make up their hours.”

The Hove track, which stages evening meetings on Thursday and Saturdays as well as three daytime BAGS cards per week, has called a temporary halt to staff recruitment while employees hit by the Tuesday closure are found shifts at other times.

Talk had been rife among Hove regulars about a Tuesday shutdown since the turn of the year.

MacDonald admitted he did need long to make a decision.

He said: “I’ve come into the job at the start of the month “I had a look at it and made the decision pretty quickly.

“I hate the phrase but it was a no-brainer.”

Stadium staff and those close to the racing, such as owners and trainers, are said to have found the decision sad but inevitable.

The venue had become a victim of racing overkill in recent times.

Full story in today's Argus

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