For an initial three-week period from May 9-23, Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV) and Harness Racing Victoria (HRV) will hold race meetings on Saturday mornings to help boost the two brands to new audiences.
And Shepparton Greyhound Racing Club is set to play a role in GRV's journey into new territory, with the club locked in to be used as the Saturday morning meeting on May 23.
Ballarat will be used for the first two weekends, while Melton will be the base for all three trots meetings.
The idea for Saturday morning race meetings comes in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, which is set to offer additional earning potential for the two industries’ participants.
In a joint statement released on Thursday, HRV chief executive Dayle Brown and GRV boss Alan Clayton highlighted the reasons for the move into the Saturday morning time slot.
“Saturday morning racing presents an important strategic opportunity for our racing codes,” the statement read.
“The additional race meetings will provide extra earning potential for our hard-working participants and enable our products to reach new audiences during a period when people are hungry for sporting entertainment.”
The statement went on to highlight that each meeting would be reviewed on its performance across a number of factors including broadcast, wagering and brand perspective.
“Each of these meetings will be thoroughly reviewed from a wagering, broadcast and brand perspective,” the statement read.
“This will help guide our future strategy regarding Saturday morning racing.
“We are also pleased to be working so collaboratively on this project.
“We thank our Victorian Racing Industry partners and Tabcorp for backing this initiative and welcome the initial three-week arrangement.”
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