Greyhound Racing NSW has announced integrated plans for the resumption of NSW ready-to-race and puppy auctions and a related new race series. The initiative is expected to make it easier for newcomers and syndicates to get into racing, and to link up breeders, trainers and new owners.
GRNSW Chief Executive Officer Rob Macaulay said the announcement was not only exciting news for all those participants in the sport, but is also guaranteed to bring new people into greyhound racing.
“This slots in very well with our work around syndication, which will soon come to fruition. This will highlight the great market in NSW, and make an easy entry for newcomers into the sport ,” Mr Macaulay said.
Industry sources said the race series will carry more than $250,000 prizemoney.
The first auction will be held in May 2024, with the race series to be held in November 2025. The auction – which will be for pups whelped between July 1, 2023 and January 31, 2024 – will be held at Richmond, with a venue for the race series to be decided. GRNSW Deputy CEO Wayne Billett is already recruiting pups and ready-to-race dogs for the auction, and expects it to be a big success.
“There is overwhelming support for this initiative. It has been warmly welcomed by both the potential vendors – the breeders – and the potential buyers. I know it will also be of great service to syndications. We will announce the full details of the auction and race series very soon, but we wanted to get the news out there so it can be factored in by breeders.” said Mr Billett.
Greyhound Cubs NSW President Shayne Stiff welcomed the news. “This is great news for our industry. An auction with a race series worth $250,000 attached to it is of course beneficial to breeders, but you can be guaranteed that it will attract new people into the industry, and when syndication is in place, there will be plenty of interest from syndicates in this auction.”
Mark Latham has been involved in the sport for seven years, and runs Roller Coast Greyhound Racing (RCR Greyhounds) with an objective of bringing new people into the sport. He was delighted to hear of the new auction and race series. “It’s exciting and it’s great news,” he said. “I went to a puppy auction when I first got involved. GRNSW has taken this initiative to get this going again, combined with syndication and a rehoming component and a breeders incentive, and I know we will have reputable people involved and new people will want to come into the sport. It’s very exciting.”
GRNSW will be in contact with breeders about registering for the auction, and full details will be released in coming months.
