The stand-off is bitter.
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And it's far from over.
Four years after the animal welfare investigation which threatened to shut down the industry, greyhound racing at Dapto continues to have a pulse, after a NSW Supreme Court injunction ordered Thursday night's meeting to go ahead.
It came at the end of one of the most tense and bizarre days in Illawarra sporting history.
At 10am, Greyhound Racing NSW chief executive Tony Mestrov arrived to verbally storm the walls of the Dapto Agricultural and Horticultural Society, with legal threats and a determination to appoint their own administrator to replace the board.
He was also armed with "concerns" about "financial reporting" of the club, at the end of negotiations over a new three-year contract with GRNSW, covering racing dates and broadcast and betting revenue.
Some 24 hours earlier, the DAHS had bunkered down for a siege with GRNSW, when chairman Noel Leslie declared the track would close and the board would pursue a "progressive strategic plan" to redevelop the site.
The stand-off continued, with about 50 owners, trainers and staff joining GRNSW offcials to support the greyhound racing cause, while the legal paperwork was finalised.
The potential site development is just one aspect of this issue, which has all the layers of an onion.
While 14 of the 15 NSW clubs signed the new agreement, Dapto's board had held out.
The GRNSW discussion paper had centred around moving Dapto meetings to Saturday night, Bulli to Monday and Wentworth Park to Thursday.
Mestrov denied he was committed to any such move.
Trainers and owners seemed split on the issue of Dapto moving days.
The arguments rage on about whether such a move would beneficial or not when it comes to revenue and turnover.
But if racing was to proceed, on Thursday, or ever again, the clock was ticking, as the hearing began.
At 4pm, the Supreme Court declared the races should proceed and the matter return to be heard in further detail on Monday.
Renewed hope, or a stay of execution for the greyhound track which has operated for more than 80 years?
It remains to be seen.
Still the stand-off lingered until about 5.30pm, tensions only easing once the police had become involved to follow through with the court order. The gates opened.
What was a weekly ritual for the Dapto faithful became like a battlefront, as they stormed their way through.
"I stood here this morning at Dapto Race Club and said I would move heaven and earth for this racing meeting to go ahead," Mestrov said.
"And duly it is going ahead.
"It's a huge win for the local participants."
Mestrov dismissed doubts over the surface, which is usually measured in penetrometre readings of the track condition in the 12 hours prior to racing, to satisfy welfare and integrity measures.
"We've got curators ready to go and racing will go ahead," he said.
Just before 8pm the first jumped, a 520m Maiden - the seven runners greeted to a crowd ovation as they walked on to the track - was won by Camden trainer John Smart's favourite Lola Lovelace.
Normal service resuming, for now at least.
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