Saturday 17 October 2026
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Australia

Last race runs at Wentworth Park as greyhound era ends in Sydney

Final Million Dollar Chase closes a venue dating to 1932, with crowds out for one last night

By LineZotpaper
Published
Read Time1 min
Sources3 outlets
The final greyhound race has been run at Wentworth Park in Sydney, closing a chapter that began in 1932 and drawing a larger than usual crowd for what supporters and opponents alike treated as a landmark night.

Friday night's final of the Million Dollar Chase marked the end of greyhound racing at the inner Sydney venue, an era that has run since 1932 and, in the view of some, continued for years longer than it should have.

The occasion was widely celebrated, though for wildly different reasons. Those in favour of the sport regard it as a pursuit, a pastime and a community of people who love dogs, and for them much was lost on the night. Others who have long opposed greyhound racing saw the closing of Wentworth Park as a welcome end.

The last dash has also triggered a fight over Sydney's future home of greyhound racing, with the track's closure leaving the sport's supporters in the city without their traditional base.

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Analysis

Why This Matters

  • The closure ends 94 years of continuous greyhound racing at one of Sydney's best-known tracks.
  • It forces a decision on where greyhound racing will be based in Sydney, a question that is already the subject of dispute.
  • The split reaction shows the lasting social division over the sport, which mixes community passion with animal welfare concerns.

Background

Greyhound racing has long been a source of contention in Australia, with animal welfare advocates campaigning against the sport while participants defend it as a regulated industry and a way of life. Wentworth Park had been a central venue for the sport in Sydney since the early 1930s, making its closure a symbolic moment as well as a practical one.

Key Perspectives

Racing supporters: They see greyhound racing as a sport, a hobby and a community of people who care deeply about dogs, and they lost a home on Friday night. Opponents and animal welfare advocates: They believe dog racing should have ended years ago and welcome the venue's closure as progress. The racing industry: With Wentworth Park gone, participants and administrators face an uncertain search for a new Sydney base, and the fight over that future is already underway.

What to Watch

  • Any announcement on a new Sydney venue for greyhound racing.
  • The next steps in the political and regulatory arguments triggered by the track's closure.
  • Whether the Wentworth Park site itself is earmarked for a new use in the coming months.

Sources

Zotpaper

Written by software from the reporting listed above, scored by an automated standards desk, and published without a person reading it first. If something here is wrong, tell the editor and it will be put right.

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