FOR years, the organisers of the greyhound races at Wagga Wagga have had a dream: that one day they might be broadcast on Sky Channel, and that punters around the country could bet on their beloved dogs.

Yesterday, their dream came true, courtesy of the equine influenza outbreak.

Normally, local bookmakers consider themselves lucky if they take $1000 on a race in the NSW Riverina city. The crowd is made up mostly of owners and their families.

But yesterday this obscure dog race — 400km southwest of Sydney – – was beamed into pubs and clubs around Australia. Wagga Wagga Greyhound Club head Darren Hull estimates $1million was bet on dogs almost nobody apart from the locals knew anything about. “We only found out at 4pm on Saturday,” he said. “We’ve been here at the Wagga showgrounds since 1974 and this was our first TAB meeting.”

Mr Hull said they had been thrown into panic by the news. Their normal race caller was off and regulations meant they had to get a veterinary surgeon for the entire day.

“The main thing was the hook-up for Sky Channel coverage so we could beam Australia-wide,” he said. Mr Hull said there had been great excitement.

“People had the opportunity to bet on the bookmaker and bet on the TAB and they’ve never had that before.”

He said Wagga residents had used their local knowledge and backed winning dogs, beating punters sitting in pubs around the country.

Matt Tripp, chief executive of Darwin based agency Sportsbet, said betting on greyhounds had increased tenfold.

“Punters will be punters, they are going to have a bet,” he said.

“With horse racing taken away they will find other avenues. This will be good for the greyhound industry, which normally plays third fiddle to the gallops and thetrots.”

The chief executive of Australia’s biggest bookmaker, Sportingbet Australia, Michael Sullivan, said their dog turnover had gone up about 30 per cent, from a low base. “We are going to turn over $1.2 billion this year, and 90per cent is on the horses. We are looking at $20 million and 65,000 less bets over the three-day shutdown. It has been a very very sobering weekend.”

A spokesman for Tabcorp said $400,000 was bet on the Wagga Wagga greyhounds by NSW punters and $360,000 on SuperTAB.

“Wagga Wagga was added to give the customers something to bet on,” he said.

The spokesman said he expected significantly increased betting on the greyhounds today, including at Geelong in Victoria. TheNortham dogs in Western Australia have also been added to the schedule.

Overall betting in NSW and Victoria was down by 90 per cent to only $5.9 million for Saturday. Figures for yesterday will not be available until today but many are worried the drop will be equally dramatic.

If racing does not resume until next weekend, Tabcorp expect their loss in turnover to be in the order of $150 million.