Vung Tau greyhound racing to end as license expires

Punters who love dog racing in Vietnam will have to wait to physically watch the sport as the country’s only greyhound track, located in the beach town of Vung Tau, will close on March 10 when the investment license expires.

Sports and Entertainment Services Co. (SES), a joint venture between Australia’s Hemlock Services Corp. and Ba Ria-Vung Tau province’s Tourism Company, has announced the closure and is building a new race track in another province.

SES received the 25-year license in March 1998, with around $5 million in charter capital. Its chairman is Nguyen Ngoc My, a Vietnam-born Australian businessman.

He recalled the history of importing greyhounds from Australia to Vung Tau, about two hours’ drive southeast of Ho Chi Minh City.

“In 1996, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province’s chairman Nguyen Trong Minh asked me a question. He wanted tourists visiting the beautiful beach town to enjoy night-time entertainment and stay here overnight. My solution was to open a greyhound track.”

He also recalled the excitement when Lam Son Stadium track opened in May 2000 after he had set up a 10-hectare greyhound breeding and training farm in 1999 in nearby Ba Ria town. From 200 imported greyhounds in the beginning, the population has gradually expanded to almost 500.

The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is bred for coursing, racing and hunting. They have a maximum speed of 70 kilometers per hour.

Vung Tau-based SES became a World Greyhound Racing Federation member in 2001, showing Vung Tau’s dog racing had come of age. Formed in 1969, the WGRF is an international forum for the interchange of information, new technology and other developments to improve greyhound racing globally.

In the initial period, the Lam Son track opened two nights per week for dog racing lovers to watch the races and bet, but later on that was cut to just Saturday nights with bets ranging from VND10,000-1 million ($0.42-42.3) each.

By the end of December 2022, SES had contributed almost VND45.4 billion (nearly $19.2 million based on current forex rates) to the provincial budget, according to the company. The entertainment company has so far seen VND205 billion (over $8.66 million based on current forex rates) in losses.

The company is building a horse and greyhound race track in the Central Highland province of Lam Dong. However, it has not disclosed the opening time for the new establishment.