Veteran Oxford trainer Terry Atkins says lower-graded hounds may not get regular runs in the New Year – because of the high-class racing strength at the Sandy Lane track.

He voiced his concern after the extra meetings in the run-up to Christmas saw the racing stren-gth rise in a bid to get all the extra meetings covered.

But once the festive season is over, it will be back to the normal grind of two evening meetings and two BAGS meetings per week.

“The class has never been higher with three bitches, including winner Freedom Emma, doing well in the Oaks,” said Atkins.

“And I believe Oxford is currently the highest grade track in the country.

“It’s a situation that could cause problems both in welfare and early retirement for some hounds.

“It’s a difficult balance for the racing manager (Gary Baiden) to please everyone, but perhaps the lower grade dogs could be used in the BAGS meetings leaving the top-class hounds used in the evening meetings.”

Baiden admitted there could be problems in the New Year.

“I am concerned as much as the owners and trainers, but I had to build up the strength to accommodate the busy Dece-mber period,” he said.

“We got up to 400 and then lost about 30 due to kennel sickness and measures such as reviewing grading times may be forced upon us.

“As regards the lower grade dogs being used for BAGS, we tend to do that anyway.

“I will be looking for an ideal strength around the 350 mark.”

Meanwhile, trainer Ron Bicknell thinks that Oxford has always been deemed the ‘poor’ track of the Greyhound Racing Association, but not anymore.

He said: “It is making a profit, but more resources should be available to attract new owners instead of many trainers having owner-trained dogs.

“After all, Oxford has all the facilities to accommodate all walks of spectator and owning a greyhound is more affordable compared to horse racing.”

Gilly Hepden, who trains at Old Chalford near Chipping Norton, has called for Tuesday night racing to return.

“It’s been hard enough to make a living, and I for one was very disappointed when the GRA closed down the Tuesday night slot,” she said. “It probably cost me 20 per cent of my income.

“The main headache is not seeing your dogs get a run. More effort should be put in to get more people here to enjoy the facilities, and they may even become new owners.”

Meanwhile, former six-times champion trainer Angie Kibble has questioned whether it was a wise decision to make a career out of the sport.

“Take this week.” she said. “All I have been doing is getting pails of water from kennel to kennel because the water pipes are frozen.

“Trying to keep the greyhounds warm and fit in this weather means a near 16-hour day.”

Kibble, whose saddest time of the year was losing her favourite greyhound Isle Of Tara through injury, would also like to see more owners in the sport.