After almost 89 years of racing, the curtain will fall on the iconic Dapto Greyhound track on Thursday night with its final race meeting.
Since opening on February 25, 1937, the NSW South Coast venue has been a cornerstone of greyhound racing, known not only across Australia but on the international stage. With Greyhound Racing NSW’s lease at the Dapto Showground set to expire in June 2026, officials opted to stage one last meeting alongside the club’s flagship event, The Megastar,
The Footy Show Era
While Dapto was always well known within racing circles, its profile exploded in the late 1990s when rugby league’s The Footy Show took its cameras trackside. The late Terry Hill was instrumental in putting the Dapto Dogs on prime-time television.
Each Thursday night, footy fans were treated to a slice of racing culture, and the track quickly became a cult favourite among NRL fans. The coverage brought a new wave of interest, blending sport with entertainment in a way no other venue had managed.
One of the defining stories of the era was Nads, a greyhound trained by Greg Wynn that became a star thanks to its appearances on the show. More than just a novelty, Nads’ popularity helped raise over $250,000 for the Children’s Hospital. It was the kind of crossover appeal that made Dapto part of the broader sporting conversation, beyond greyhound racing.
Check out this iconic Terry Hill Footy Show cross below.
In the wake of Hill's unexpected passing in 2024, tributes flowed in for Hill, one of the greyhound industry's biggest advocates.
“Terry was one of the great assets of the greyhound industry," GRNSW Chief Executive Officer Rob Macaulay said.
“Terry had great enthusiasm for greyhound racing and was responsible for helping the sport to attract widespread media coverage in the 1990s with his live television crosses to Dapto on a Thursday night during the Channel Nine Footy Show to watch his greyhound Nads race.
“Years later Terry said he would be stopped on The Corso at Manly not to be asked about his football career, but to chat about Nads and the racetrack he loved, Dapto."
A History of Firsts
In 1939, Dapto became the first club in NSW to introduce night racing under lights, a pioneering move that broadened the appeal of greyhound racing and drew bigger crowds.
More milestones followed. In 1991, Dapto staged the then-world’s richest greyhound race, the $100,000 Super Coat Classic. A year later, it became the first track in the state to switch from a grass surface to loam, a change that modernised racing conditions.
The 1990s also brought a string of memorable moments, including champion sprinter Flying Amy dazzling fans in the four-dog Shoot Out series.
From its early days in the 1930s to its national spotlight in the 1990s and its Group 1 glory in the 2010s, Dapto has been woven into the fabric of Australian greyhound racing. Generations of trainers, owners, punters and fans have made memories here, whether trackside on a cool Thursday night or watching on television from afar.