Towcester vet explains hot weather precautions

Polly Smith takes us through the race day on warm days

Under the GBGB Hot Weather Policy, racing will not happen if temperatures exceed 33 degrees. But what measures are in place at tracks when temperatures get close to that?

On Thursday, Gail May spoke to Polly Smith, the vet at Towcester, to find out how they were keeping the dogs comfortable on a very hot day.

Again under GBGB rules, greyhounds have to be transported in air-conditioned vans, so their journeys to the track pose no problems in terms of heat. 

There were the usual kenneling checks upon arrival, then the dogs went to the air-conditioned kennels. Kennel staff were briefed by Polly regarding spotting signs of heat stress, with dogs being referred immediately for treatment in the event of heat stress being detected.

The first photo that Polly shared was of a dog coming out of the kennel ready for their race looking “as cool as a cucumber”. Obviously, there were no parades, so the dogs went straight to the boxes for their races.

There have been recent changes to arrangements for cooling the dogs post-race. As well as the pool in the paddock, there is now a pool by the track which Polly shepherded all dogs towards as quickly as possible. 

“This has made a big difference with starting to cool them earlier,” she said.

Seeing photos of the dogs in the pool bears testament to that and it’s hard to argue that the dogs seemed to be enjoying it.

Summing up, Polly added: “All dogs came out well and recovered. There has been excellent teamwork – trainers have really taken the time to cool the dogs, kennel staff have monitored constantly when opening kennels and all of us have watched carefully as the dogs went home. 

"All trainers felt the dogs had recovered well and the kennels have been beautifully cool all afternoon.”

With the kennels cool and the pool ready to be refilled for today, everyone is set to do it all again- keeping the dogs safe, comfortable, and cared for.