From Tenterfield to Temora, Bondi to Broken Hill, and anywhere in between, the mention of the name Dapto will almost instantly evoke conversation of greyhound racing.
The South Coast town has been home to greyhound racing since 1937, but the iconic venue will host its final meeting on September 11.
Greyhound Racing NSW’s lease on the venue expires on June 30, 2026, but the organisation announced recently that to honour the history of Dapto, an appropriate time to farewell the racetrack would be on the night of the Group 1 Ladbrokes Megastar.
The announcement revived many memories from those with a long history with Dapto including many who have at one time or another been the venue’s voice.
Many leading racecallers past and present have spent time behind the binoculars atop the Dapto grandstand.
Sydney’s current number 1 thoroughbred and harness racing callers Darren Flindell and Fred Hastings both called the dogs at Dapto, as did the likes of leading greyhound callers Peter Johnson, Tim Newbold, Matt Jackson, Luke Marlow, Kel O’Rourke, Phil Roberts, Dale Walker, and current number one NSW greyhound caller Russell Veitch.
All will make a return and call a race on the final night of Dapto, while legendary caller Paul Ambrosoli will also be trackside.
“Greyhound racing as always been a stepping stone for callers to go to other codes and you'll see the majority of the best thoroughbred callers started at the dogs,” said Newbold who in his role at GRNSW organised the callers to attend.
“As far as a calibre of callers we have on the night, you couldn't have asked for a better line-up and that's what I wanted, not just to have a race callers’ night but to bring back the callers who have pretty much cut their teeth at Dapto, or have had an association with calling at Dapto.
“Dapto was a good grounding because you’re so close to the action, you’re not up high like at Wentworth Park or Richmond, so you’ve got to be on your game and not get caught up on how quickly they're going. It can be a tricky track to call at.
“But the flipside was it was always great to call there because you're close to the action and the punters, they are literally a metre in front of you sitting down, and on the big night I think you got lifted with the crowd.
“It will be an emotional night for us all because it's an iconic venue and I'm sure each caller is proud of calling in some way, shape or form at Dapto over the years.
“For me I called my first group one race at Dapto, the 2014 Megastar and while I called 50 odd Group ones after that, that first one, won by Tommy Brislane, will always hold a special memory for me.”
Back in the late 1980s Peter Johnson was one of three callers at Dapto.
“I lived on the South Coast and I practised race calling in the back straight of Dapto and Wollongong,” he recalled. “I'd tape them all and I sent the calls out to Ian Craig and Geoff Mahoney and I eventually started work calling at 2UE and then moved to Sky Channel.
“There were three callers at Dapto back then. I would be in one box, Paul Ambrosoli in another for 2KY and Ray Morris would be the on track caller.
“I have some great memories of Dapto. Thursday nights were the big dog night with the other States holding metro meetings. Dapto was the place to go.
“I’m looking forward to the night and calling a race although I haven’t called for a long, long time.”
Fred Hastings began calling at Dapto as a back-up for Johnson in the 1990s after spending time under Johnson’s tutelage at Richmond greyhounds.
“If Peter couldn't get me because I had something else on, he'd get maybe a Darren Flindell,” Hastings explained. “Back in the early 90s, I called a big race called the Dapto Shootout. It was a four dog race, and Flying Amy - who was a star - won it.
“That was how I got the started doing Dapto then from about 2003 I filled in for Paul for seven years as his deputy.
“It’s a great track to call at, but it can be tricky because you are low to the ground and close to the track and they jump and they're whizzing on by, looking for their positions, and you can get caught up, trying to call and match the speed of the dogs, as you're trying to spit their names out.
“That's why Paul was so good at what he did because he was so relaxed. It sounded like he had all the time in the world.
"And those foggy drives home each Thursday night up Mount Ousley, always buying tickets in the meat raffle but never winning, then getting a message from Paul the week after telling me he'd just won it.
