Vic Peters Classic
The first Group 1 of the new NSW season was appropriately won by the dog causing the loudest noise both inside and outside the industry at present, Feral Franky.
The Feral, or the People’s Dog, as he has become known with his cult following, produced a brilliant performance to win the $75,000 to the winner Vic Peters Classic at Wentworth Park on Saturday, navigating his way through traffic better than Lewis Hamilton.
The win was The Feral’s first Group 1 victory, and took his record to 26 starts for 14 wins and 10 placings, and more than $300,000 in prizemoney.
The Ray Smith-trained sprinter has now won his past eight races in succession, his only ‘defeat’ in his past 11 runs coming when he finished second overall in the Speed Star series in Melbourne.
Feral Franky will head to Melbourne again this week to tackle the heats of the Group 1 Maturity at The Meadows.
Smith took Feral Franky to The Meadows two weeks ago, and was very happy with the 29.85s trial.
Watch Feral Franky’s Vic Peters Classic win here
Peter Mosman Opal
The second Group 1 of the season was also on Saturday night, with the running of the Peter Mosman Opal, an age restricted feature for female greyhounds.
And the trophy and $75,000 is headed to Victoria after Start A Riot (pictured), trained by Keith Hellmuth, powered home to win by nearly two lengths from Nichole Mason's Miley Nismo, who had defeated the Victorian bitch in last week's heats.
Flossing, also prepared in Victoria, by Jeff Britton, led to the home bend but found Start A Riot and Miley Nismo too strong in the straight.
Start A Riot gave her trainer his second Group 1 success in NSW, as Hellmuth had landed the 2013 Dapto Megastar with his great sprinter Peter Rocket, a winner of $329,000 prizemoney.
Watch Start A Riot take out the Peter Mosman Opal here
$50,000 raised in Bayley’s Future Auction
The on track racing was not the only notable event at Wentworth Park on Saturday night, with an auction held to raise funds for the family of three young children who were tragically killed in a house fire at Singleton last month.
Organised by participant Ash Thomas, a pup by Aston Dee Bee out of Thinkalot, numerous straws to a variety of leading sires, and some great pieces of sporting memorabilia, all went under the hammer, and, with a handful of donations as well, a total of $50,000 was raised on the night for Kara Atkins and her eight-year-old daughter Bayley, who survived the blaze after being pulled through a window by neighbours.
More fund raising events are scheduled in coming weeks to support Kara and Bayley, so keep an eye on thedogs.com.au for more details.
Maiden Racing Breeding Bonuses
Following on from the NSW Bred series which was very successfully conducted last month, and well received by participants, GRNSW will be offering breeding bonuses for a number of feature maiden events around the State.
Breeder’s bonuses of $500 for the winner, $250 for second and $250 for third, will be paid to NSW Bred greyhounds in the finals of seven feature maiden events.
The events where the bonuses will apply can be found below.
New GRNSW Board
The Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation Kevin Anderson on Friday announced a new chair, deputy chair and several new appointments to the Greyhound Racing NSW Board.
Hugh Armenis, who has been serving as a director on the Board since 2017, will be the new chair, while new appointment Rebekah Giles, will serve as deputy chair.
Mr Armenis and Ms Giles have replaced previous chair the Hon Morris Iemma and deputy chair Yvonne Howie, who have both stepped down.
Joining them on the board will be new Directors Marissa Cooper, Helen Moore and Kevin Gordon, along with reappointed member Matthew Waring, and current serving member Annette Mullen.
For full details of the new GRNSW Board go here.
GAP News
Over the past few months we have had Adoption Days at Wentworth Park, Maitland, Bathurst and most recently at Rose Bay where our new GAP Ambassador Tim Cahill was present, and while there may not be any events scheduled for July, it was very poignantly put once that: “Every day is an Adoption Day.”
That’s the case with our Greyhounds As Pets program, and winter is the perfect time to get a new pet to snuggle with on these cold nights.
We have many dogs looking for new homes at our GAP facilities, so head to our website to find one just for you.
For more information and bios on our greyhounds, head to the www.gapnsw.com.au
