Warning: This article includes details and images relating to greyhound welfare that some readers may find distressing.
Greyhound Racing South Australia (GRSA) has disqualified a leading trainer it once described as “having a strong future” in its marketing.
Yesterday, Jack Clayton Trengove was handed a four-year racing ban and fined $875 over four animal welfare-related infringements.
Mr Trengove, of a prominent Broken Hill racing family, was found guilty on one count of failing to “ensure veterinary attention when necessary” and “prevent unnecessary pain or suffering”, in relation to a dog named Stella.
According to the Integrity Hearings Panel’s decision, the two charges relate to “a significant left forelimb injury that Stella sustained” with “open wounds at the fracture site”.
Mr Trengove at Broken Hill Racecourse last year. (Supplied: Broken Hill Racecourse)
“Mr Trengove became aware of the injury but did not seek immediate veterinary attention, instead waiting until the following day,” the panel said.
He also pleaded guilty to two counts related to improper kennel maintenance, concerning a “dangerous” protruding wire.
Offences ‘strike to core of values’
Mr Trengove has been suspended since June 2025 when charges were laid against him.
Twenty-two of those were set aside because of insufficient evidence.
In determining the sentence, the panel said: “Although the circumstances of each offence are not the most serious examples … of their type, they nonetheless strike to the core of the values upon which greyhound racing in South Australia operates.”
It acknowledged Mr Trengove was “remorseful” and that his “thriving business will need to be rebuilt if he is to return to racing”, but did not factor any “special circumstances” into the sentence.
In a brief statement, Mr Trengove said he would appeal the sentence in the tri-code Racing Tribunal.
Last year, the ABC published a series of photos purportedly taken inside his kennel showing dogs with unexplained lesions and uncleaned animal waste, but it is unclear if the charges relate to those images.
It is unknown whether these photos, allegedly taken inside Mr Trengove’s kennel, were connected to the inquiry charges. (Supplied)
The photos were given anonymously to the ABC. (Supplied)
No findings of criminal wrongdoing have been made.
Racing chief welcomes decision
Responding to the decision, GRSA chief executive Brenton Scott said the organisation “adopts a zero-tolerance policy regarding animal welfare breaches”.
“We know that the vast majority of industry participants both love and care for their greyhounds, abide by the rules and demonstrate deep commitment to their wellbeing, but this needs to be 100 per cent of the industry,”
he said.
“GRSA has embraced industry reform over the past two years and hasn’t been afraid to take the tough decisions to ensure the industry meets the best possible operating standards.”
He also said GRSA was “finalising the implementation” of the 2023 Ashton Inquiry recommendations.
The inquiry was sparked by wide-ranging concerns about integrity and animal welfare in the industry.
Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds spokesperson Elle Trahair, who has advocated for the industry to be shut down, welcomed Mr Trengove’s ban.
“When the Integrity Hearings Panel itself says this kind of conduct puts greyhound racing’s social licence at risk, the Malinauskas government must ask itself: how much more suffering before it accepts this industry cannot be reformed?”
The Greyhound Industry Reform Inspector is set to hand down his final report in July, recommending whether or not the sport should continue.
