Cannington Greyhounds — TABtouch Park, WA’s Metropolitan Track

If you follow greyhound racing in Western Australia, Cannington is where you start. It is the state’s metropolitan headquarters — the WA equivalent of what Wentworth Park is to New South Wales or The Meadows to Victoria — and the only true city-class greyhound track in the west. Located around 20 minutes from Perth’s CBD in the suburb of Cannington, the track has carried the naming-rights brand TABtouch Park since its major sponsorship deal, though many punters still know it as Cannington Greyhounds or simply Greyhounds WA Cannington. They are all the same venue.

Cannington is the home of Western Australia’s two Group 1 races — the Perth Cup and the Galaxy — both run on the biggest night of the WA racing calendar each March. Between those features and its regular Wednesday and Saturday cards, it accounts for the bulk of the metropolitan-grade racing in the state. For serious form students, this is the track where the best WA dogs converge and where interstate raiders arrive each autumn to chase the west’s premier prizes.

This page covers the track itself, its race nights and distances, the Group 1 features, where to find fields and results, its current operating status, and how to watch and bet.

Detail	Info
Venue	TABtouch Park, Station Street, Cannington WA
Governing body	Racing and Wagering WA (RWWA)
Operator	WA Greyhound Racing Association (WAGRA)
Surface	Northam River sand
Distances	275m, 381m, 520m, 601m, 715m
Race nights	Wednesday and Saturday evenings
Current facility opened	23 March 2016
Flagship races	Perth Cup & Galaxy (Group 1, March)
Feature distance	520m (Perth Cup)

About TABtouch Park Cannington

Cannington has been the home of metropolitan greyhound racing in Western Australia for half a century, though the track punters visit today is not the original. The first Cannington venue — known in its early years as Cannington Central — opened in December 1974 as WA’s first metropolitan greyhound track, built at the Canning Agricultural Society showgrounds on Station Street beside Albany Highway. It ran for just over four decades. The final race at the old track was held on 27 June 2015, and the site was subsequently redeveloped — a Bunnings warehouse now stands where generations of WA greyhounds once raced.

The current facility was built immediately adjacent to the original and opened on 23 March 2016 after a rebuild reported at around $14 million. It replaced a functional but ageing venue with a purpose-built modern complex: a new grandstand, an electronic LED video board, and a redesigned racing surface. That investment is why Cannington today presents as a genuine city-class venue rather than the dated tracks that WA racing had long been associated with.

The track is owned and operated by the Western Australian Greyhound Racing Association (WAGRA), with the sport across the state governed by Racing and Wagering WA (RWWA) — the body responsible for greyhound, thoroughbred and harness racing in Western Australia. The TABtouch Park naming reflects the sponsorship of TABtouch, WA’s tote and wagering operator, and it is the name you will see on official fields, form guides and broadcasts.

The racing surface is Northam River sand, and the circuit caters to five race distances covering everything from short-course sprints to genuine staying trips. The venue is easily reached — Cannington railway station is a short walk away, there is free parking at both entrances, and the on-course Box 1 Bar & Restaurant operates on race nights, with doors from around 5:30pm and dining from 6pm.

Race Nights, Schedule and Distances

Cannington races twice a week — Wednesday and Saturday evenings — which makes its schedule easy to follow compared to the busier eastern-state metro tracks. Gates open at 6:00pm, the first race typically jumps around 6:30pm, and the last race is usually done by about 10:30pm. Entry is free on Wednesday nights, which has long made the midweek card a relaxed, low-cost night out for Perth locals as much as a serious punting meeting.

The track programs five distances, each serving a different type of dog:

Distance	Type	Notes
275m	Short sprint	Quick, box-speed-dependent dashes
381m	Sprint	A common middle-grade distance
520m	Feature sprint	The main metropolitan trip — the Perth Cup distance
601m	Middle distance	A step up for stronger, longer-running types
715m	Staying	The distance of the Galaxy — WA’s premier staying test

The 520m is Cannington’s headline sprint distance and the trip over which its biggest race, the Perth Cup, is decided. The 715m is the marathon of the program and the province of dedicated stayers, contested at Group 1 level in the Galaxy.

Fields for each meeting are released once the box draws are completed, typically a day or two ahead. RWWA publishes a monthly Racing WA – Greyhounds Cannington programme with meeting dates and racing information, and both early and late scratchings are posted to the RWWA site. For anyone planning which card to follow, the Wednesday/Saturday rhythm rarely changes outside the March feature period, when the schedule builds toward the big carnival night.

The Perth Cup and the Galaxy — Cannington’s Group 1 Night

Cannington’s calendar builds toward a single night each March when the track hosts both of Western Australia’s Group 1 greyhound races on the same card: the Perth Cup and the Galaxy. It is comfortably the biggest night of racing in the west, drawing the best local dogs alongside a strong contingent of interstate raiders — predominantly from Victoria — who target the trip west specifically for these two features. The races are run under the Sky Racing sponsorship banner and are broadcast nationally.

The two features test opposite ends of the racing spectrum. The Perth Cup is a sprint decided over 520m; the Galaxy is a staying contest over 715m. Together they crown the best sprinter and the best stayer to race in WA each season.

The Perth Cup

The Perth Cup is Western Australia’s premier greyhound race and the centrepiece of the March carnival. It is run over 520m at Cannington on a heats-and-final format, with the final staged on the big Saturday night. The race has carried a series of sponsors across its history — from the Brownes Gold Cup era through Be Active and, in recent years, Sky Racing.

Detail	Info
Distance	520m
Grade	Group 1
Venue	Cannington (TABtouch Park)
Run	March (final on the Saturday)
Format	Heats and final

The 2025 final produced a dominant result:

• Winner: Deadly Avenger
• Time: 29.43
• Beaten runners: Morton and Miss Envy filled the placings
• Context: Deadly Avenger settled behind the leaders before surging down the back straight and powering clear in the home straight to take the first prize in a slick time

Recent editions underline how open the race can be. In 2024, the outsider Uncle Tommy — at $19 — caused an upset, holding off the Victorian Group 1 winner Mepunga Shine in 29.81 for local trainer Steve Withers, who had long wanted to win his hometown cup. That mix of local hope and interstate class is what gives the Perth Cup its character year to year.

The Galaxy

The Galaxy is WA’s premier staying feature and the major support race on Perth Cup night. It became a Group race in 2002, having previously run as a minor feature since 1982, and is now firmly established as one of the most prestigious events in the state. It is contested over the 715m marathon trip at Cannington.

Detail	Info
Distance	715m
Grade	Group 1
Venue	Cannington (TABtouch Park)
Run	March (Perth Cup night)
Format	Heats and final

The 2025 Galaxy went to an interstate star:

• Winner: Ethanol Water
• Trainer: Thomas Dailly
• Time: 41.60 — a Cannington 715m track record
• Context: A record-breaking run that confirmed the Galaxy’s status as a genuine national-quality staying race, not just a state final

The race has been won by some of the finest stayers in the country’s history. The champion Miata won it twice, becoming the first greyhound ever to do so, on her way to a career regarded among the best the track has seen. That pedigree of winners is part of why the Galaxy holds the standing it does.

Between the two, Perth Cup night is the one date to circle for anyone following WA greyhound racing. It is the night the west’s best are crowned and the one meeting each year that pulls the national form lines through Cannington.

Cannington Greyhounds Results and Form

Following Cannington means keeping track of two things: the fields and form before a meeting, and the results and replays after it. Because WA racing runs under its own governing body, some of the best sources are WA-specific, while the national aggregators cover Cannington alongside every other Australian track.

Where to find fields, results and replays

Source	What it carries
RWWA / Racing WA	Official fields, monthly meeting programmes, early and late scratchings, stewards’ reports
Greyhounds WA	Club-level meeting info, feature race news, publications and forms
TABtouch	WA’s tote operator — fields, live odds and results built alongside the betting markets
The Greyhound Recorder	Fields, form, stats, track records and premierships for Cannington
Racing and Sports	Detailed form guides, results, race dates and statistical breakdowns
The dogs	National greyhound fields and form, updated after nominations close

For results specifically — RWWA and TABtouch post results promptly after each race, and the Greyhound Recorder and Racing and Sports carry full form histories and replays. Live vision is available through Sky Racing and the major betting operators for account holders, so you can watch each Cannington race as it runs rather than waiting for the result to post.

How WA grading works

Cannington races are graded under RWWA’s grading policy, which sorts dogs by ability so that races are competitive within each class. As with the rest of the country, the system runs from maiden and novice grades for inexperienced dogs up through the graded ranks to the free-for-all and Group races at the top. A few WA-specific points are worth knowing:

• Maiden — dogs yet to win a race.
• Novice / restricted grades — dogs stepping up from maiden level.
• Graded races — the bulk of the weekly card, sorted by class.
• Free-for-all and Group races — the top tier, culminating in the Perth Cup and Galaxy.

One feature unique to the west is the WestChase incentive scheme, an RWWA bonus programme designed to reward WA-bred and WA-raced greyhounds. For punters, it is worth being aware of because it shapes which dogs are nominated and campaigned locally rather than sent east — a factor in the depth and make-up of Cannington fields through the season.

Reading Cannington form

Because Cannington times don’t compare directly to eastern-state tracks, the most useful form is a dog’s record at Cannington over the specific distance. A dog with proven times over the 520m at the track is a more reliable guide than one arriving on interstate form alone, particularly given the surface and the box-speed demands of the shorter trips. When assessing a field, prioritise course-and-distance form, recent placings, and box draw — the same fundamentals that apply everywhere, read through a WA lens.

Current Status — Is Cannington Still Racing?

Yes. Cannington is fully operational and racing its normal Wednesday and Saturday schedule. If you’ve heard that Cannington greyhounds closed, it is most likely because of two separate events — one routine, one more serious — that are worth explaining clearly, because both are accurate and both have been resolved.

The 2024 maintenance closure

In 2024, the track was closed temporarily for maintenance and a safety upgrade, reported at around $3 million. This was a planned works closure, not a permanent one, and the track reopened and resumed racing afterward. Temporary closures of this kind are a normal part of maintaining a racing surface and are not unusual for any major track.

The January 2026 abandonment and suspension

The more significant event came in early 2026. Here is the sequence of what happened:

• 28 January 2026 — A 12-race meeting at Cannington was abandoned after race 7 following multiple serious on-track injuries. RWWA confirmed that two greyhounds were euthanised on veterinary advice and two others sustained hock fractures and were treated.
• Immediately after — RWWA suspended all racing and trialling at Cannington pending a comprehensive, independent review of the incidents. RWWA stated the track had been inspected before and during the meeting and assessed as being in good condition and within racing parameters.
• Context — The abandonment followed an earlier fatal meeting at the track in December 2025, and the incidents drew significant public attention, including calls from the local Canning council and animal-welfare advocates for the WA government to set a transition date for the sport.

The resumption

Following the independent track review, RWWA confirmed in late February 2026 that racing would resume at Cannington. The track returned to its regular Wednesday and Saturday schedule, and meetings have run continuously since — the fields and results through the middle of 2026 confirm the track is racing normally across all its distances.

So the accurate current picture is this:

Question	Answer
Is Cannington closed?	No — it is racing its normal schedule
Was it suspended in 2026?	Yes, briefly, after the 28 January meeting
Did racing resume?	Yes, following an independent review (late Feb 2026)
Are the Group 1s still on?	Yes — the Perth Cup and Galaxy calendar continues

The bigger picture

The 2026 incidents did reignite public debate about the future of greyhound racing in Western Australia, echoing the welfare-driven discussions that led to a confirmed phase-out in Tasmania and the earlier end of the sport in the ACT. As of now, WA has not set any phase-out date, and racing at Cannington continues under RWWA. But it is a genuinely live area of discussion, and anyone following WA racing closely should treat the sport’s longer-term direction in the state as an open question rather than a settled one. We keep this section updated as the situation develops.

How to Watch and Bet on Cannington greyhounds racing

Despite being on the other side of the country from the eastern-state racing hubs, Cannington is fully covered by Australia’s national broadcast and betting infrastructure. You can watch and bet on every meeting from anywhere in the country in exactly the same way you would for a Sydney or Melbourne track.

Watching Cannington racing

• Sky Racing — carries Cannington meetings as part of its national coverage, switching to WA races as they jump through the evening. Perth Cup night in March gets its full feature-race treatment.
• TABtouch — WA’s own wagering operator streams and covers Cannington racing on its platform.
• Betting operator streaming — the major licensed bookmakers stream Cannington races live within their apps and websites, typically free for account holders with a funded account.
• On-course — the Box 1 Bar & Restaurant and the venue’s public areas show the racing trackside on Wednesday and Saturday nights.

Betting on Cannington

All online betting in Australia must go through operators licensed by an Australian state or territory authority. For Cannington, that includes both WA’s home tote and the major national operators:

Operator	Fixed odds	Tote	Live streaming
TABtouch (WA)	Yes	Yes (WA tote)	Yes
TAB	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sportsbet	Yes	Via tote options	Yes
Ladbrokes	Yes	Yes	Yes
bet365	Yes	No	Yes
Neds	Yes	Yes	Yes

A few practical points for betting Cannington:

• Fixed odds typically open around 20 minutes before jump time on standard meetings, with markets for the Perth Cup and Galaxy opening well in advance during the March carnival.
• Compare prices across two or three operators before betting — the same dog can carry different odds between books, and taking the best available price is the simplest long-term edge.
• Check late scratchings within an hour of race time, especially given WA’s trackside vet inspections; RWWA posts early and late scratchings to its site.
• In-play betting cannot be placed online under Australian law — only by telephone. In practice this barely matters, since greyhound races run in under a minute and all betting is effectively a pre-race product.

Gamble responsibly. If betting is affecting you or someone you know, free confidential support is available through Gambling Help on 1800 858 858 or at gamblinghelponline.org.au. 18+ only.

FAQ

Where is the Cannington greyhound track?

Cannington greyhound track — officially TABtouch Park — is on Station Street in the suburb of Cannington, about 20 minutes from Perth’s CBD in Western Australia. It is the state’s metropolitan greyhound venue, owned by WAGRA and governed by RWWA. Cannington railway station is a short walk away and there is free parking at both entrances.

Is TABtouch Park the same as Cannington greyhounds?

Yes. TABtouch Park is the naming-rights brand for the Cannington greyhound track, applied under its sponsorship with WA wagering operator TABtouch. It is also referred to as Greyhounds WA Cannington. All three names — Cannington, TABtouch Park and Greyhounds WA Cannington — refer to the same venue.

What nights does Cannington race?

Cannington races on Wednesday and Saturday evenings. Gates open around 6:00pm, the first race typically jumps about 6:30pm, and the last race is usually run by around 10:30pm. Entry is free on Wednesday nights. The schedule builds toward the March carnival, when the track hosts its two Group 1 features.

Is Cannington greyhound track still open, or did it close?

Cannington is open and racing its normal schedule. The track was closed temporarily in 2024 for a maintenance and safety upgrade, and racing was briefly suspended after a meeting was abandoned on 28 January 2026 following multiple injuries. Following an independent review, RWWA confirmed racing would resume in late February 2026, and the track has been operating normally since.

What are the big races at Cannington?

Cannington hosts Western Australia’s two Group 1 greyhound races, both run in March on the same night: the Perth Cup (520m sprint) and the Galaxy (715m staying race). This is the biggest night of WA greyhound racing and draws the best local dogs plus interstate raiders, mainly from Victoria.

Where can I find Cannington fields, results and replays?

Official fields, programmes and scratchings are published by RWWA at racingwa.com.au, with results and live odds also on TABtouch. The Greyhound Recorder and Racing and Sports carry detailed form, results, replays and track stats, and thedogs.com.au lists Cannington fields nationally after nominations close.

Can I bet on Cannington greyhounds from interstate?

Yes. All major Australian licensed operators carry fixed-odds and tote markets on Cannington meetings, alongside WA’s home operator TABtouch. Live streaming is available through Sky Racing and most betting operators for account holders. Fixed odds generally open around 20 minutes before each race, and earlier for the Perth Cup and Galaxy.