Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) says Coonamble's historic race club will close, or could be downgraded to a trial track, as the industry body reduces the number of racing courses in NSW to 12.

The peak body published this week a report from Deloitte Australia scoring priority for 26 tracks, with its most wester track at Coonamble ranking in the lower band on 20th.

GRNSW CEO Steve Griffin said the industry needs to cut racing tracks to be sustainable under their "optimisation" plan.

Local stakeholders have questioned the data and the logic used to determine the winners and losers in the statewide plan, saying the final decision has been announced without waiting for feedback.

"We simply don't have the funding to be able to upgrade all of those tracks," Mr Griffin said.

"Millions of dollars will be required to keep tracks like Coonamble up to track standard.

"It's a requirement of government that we get our tracks up to minimum track standards."

“It’s never easy having to make decisions such as this.

"However, for the future of the industry, everyone unanimously agreed at our Industry Future Summit that we have too many racetracks in NSW and we need optimisation, and the Deloitte report confirmed this."

The last Coonamble greyhound carnival was 2024 after GRNSW confirmed they intended to close the local track. [IMAGE: River McCrossen]

Mr Griffin said the GRNSW board will consider the recommendations and make a final decision by the end of November.

GRNSW commissioned Deloitte to write the report, which ranked clubs on seven criteria including commercial viability, injury rates, recent major investments, and the cost needed to bring them up to track standards.

The report said it used data provided by GRNSW and the clubs to make their assessments. The Western Plains App has requested the information from both.

Coonamble was one of 12 tracks scored in the lowest of three bands.

The report said that band typically contain tracks with low to no profit, poor injury records and infrastructure that doesn't meet requirements.

The club has disputed the injuries and high upgrade costs cited by GRNSW as a reason for the track's closure, which was first revealed in late-May 2024.

Coonamble Greyhound Racing Club president Graham Pickering (right) provides Nationals MP Dave Layzell a tour of the local club in September 2025. [IMAGE: River McCrossen]

"If you close all those tracks down, greyhound racing's dead in five years," Coonamble club president Graham Pickering said.

"I mean in general, I mean New South Wales. Because the more tracks they close down, the further people have got to travel. The further people have got to travel, the more they'll just say, 'I'm not doing it.'

"In five year's time, they will be saying 'we haven't got enough dogs. Oh gee, we're going to have to close some more tracks down.'

"They're just killing it from the inside out."

READ: Hunter MP plans to weigh in on Coonamble's greyhound racing future

The report found that a single track is needed to support races in the Orana region.

It said Dubbo should be retained as it is already a TAB track and recommended that Coonamble, which had not been given TAB status, be considered for closure or conversion to a trial track.

TAB (Totalisator Agency Board) is an online betting operator which takes Australian greyhound races to an international betting audience. 

Tracks have to meet track and equipment standards set by GRNSW before the racing body decides whether to grant it TAB status, including broadcasting equipment.

If a track does have TAB, their races are broadcast on Sky Racing.

"The report suggests that we don't race at non-TAB tracks because they're not economically viable because we're not making money from wagering. We're not getting money from the major bookmakers," Mr Griffin said.

The report classes almost all non-TAB tracks in the low-priority band.

The only exception was Lithgow, which is being upgraded to a new TAB track scheduled to open at the end of 2026.

When approached for comment, a spokesperson for NSW Racing Minister David Harris said the track strategy is a matter for GRNSW.

"It is important that in considering any decisions around its track portfolio, GRNSW engages appropriately with industry stakeholders given the impact of any closures on greyhound racing participants," the spokesperson said.

"The NSW Government supports a competitive, responsible and sustainable greyhound racing industry, with the highest standards of animal welfare."

After GRNSW confirmed that the Coonamble track would close last year, the annual 2024 October Carnival was still allowed to go ahead.

Local organisers thought they received the green light in the first half of year for 2025, although the racing body confirmed in June that it would not proceed.

At the time, Mr Griffin said the approval had been a miscommunication.