The Beckley Centre
LocationBeckley Park, Broderick Road, Corio, Geelong, Victoria
Coordinates38°03′41″S 144°22′52″E / 38.06139°S 144.38111°E / -38.06139; 144.38111
OperatorGeelong Greyhound Racing Club
SurfaceSand
Construction
Opened7 March 1980
Renovated2008

Geelong Greyhound Racing Club or The Beckley Centre is a greyhound racing venue located at Beckley Park, Broderick Road, Corio, Geelong, Victoria.[1][2] The Beckley Centre is operated by the Geelong Greyhound Racing Club (GGRC) and regulated by Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV). It hosts the Geelong Cup and has race distances over 400, 460, 520, 596 and 680 metres. Racing is conducted on Tuesday and Friday and occasional Saturdays.[3]

The venue is unusual in greyhound racing due to tha fact that it has an inside and an outside track. The inside track is a more of a circular shape as opposed to the standard oval track on the outside.[4][2]

History

Greyhound racing in Geelong began in 1936 and was originally held at Nelson Park in North Geelong, near the Melbourne Road. In 1956 greyhound racing and the Geelong Trotting Club moved into the vacant Corio Oval (the former home of Geelong Football Club. Both the greyhound racing and Trotting Club remained there until the late 1970s before they moved to the present site on Beckley Park, where facilities were constructed costing $650,000. The first greyhound meeting was held on Friday 7 March 1980. A major upgrade took place in 1997, the upgrade included renovation of the grandstand and cost $250,000.[5]

In March 2008 the GGRC began a $10 million project that would result in a new facility called The Beckley Centre. Initially $1.2 million was spent building an administrative building and kennel block. This was followed in 2010, by a re-development of the main grandstand buildings, which included a 240 seat track view restaurant.[4][5][2]

Track Distances

Track Distance (metres)
Inside 400
Inside 460
Outside 520
Outside 596
Inside 680

Feature Races

Race 1st Prizemoney
Geelong Cup $47000[6]
The Cannonball $5000

Geelong Cup Roll of Honour

The Cup was first held in 1962.[7]

Track Records

Current track records[8]

Distance (metres) Time (seconds) Greyhound Date Set Trainer
400 22.010 Aston Bolero 26 August 2016 Jason Thompson
460 25.106 Black Magic Opal 18 October 2013 Jason Thompson
520 29.518 Fernando Express 27 July 2018 Robert Britton
596 33.968 Xylia Allen 15 February 2013 Graeme Bate
680 38.719 Burn One Down 09 June 2017 Seona Thompson

References

  1. ↑ "Greyhound Racing Tracks In Australia". Australian Racing Greyhound. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 "Geelong Greyhound Racing Club - The Beckley Centre". Visit Melbourne. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  3. ↑ "Track results". Greyhound Recorder. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Geelong Greyhound Racing Club - The Beckley Centre". Corporate Keys. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  5. 1 2 "History". Greyhound Racing Victoria Geelong. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  6. ↑ "GEELONG GOLD CUP: Singing for an omen". geelong.grv.org.au. 28 October 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  7. ↑ "Geelong Cup". Greyhound Clubs Australia. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  8. ↑ "Fasttrack Geelong Statistics".
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