It wasn’t quite a Powerball win, but Dale Leard certainly had a weekend to remember.
His Newcastle Knights couldn’t quite pull off the upset of the season against Penrith, but while he was in the stand, Dale tuned in on his phone to listen to the inaugural running of The Quokka in Perth and hear Overpass just hang on to win.
Dale has “a small share” in the galloper who claimed the inaugural $4 million feature, then on Sunday afternoon he headed to Muswellbrook for the historic first meeting on the redeveloped greyhound track.
And more success, this time Dale’s dog Krypto Curly created his slice of history, taking out the opening event on the 12-race card.
“Yeah, it’s been really exciting,” Dale said. “I would have gone over to Perth if I didn't have the dogs.
“It’s so good to win the first race ever run here at the new track and at least he held the track record for a couple of races.
“I'd planned to come here to race at Muswellbrook because my dogs like the smaller type tracks and it’s a nice track here and they've done a lot of work here and really improved the place. It's a credit to everybody involved.”
A huge crowd was on hand for the historic grand opening on a day which not only featured 12 races, but was jammed packed with musical acts and family entertainment.
“I’m very proud today. It's fantastic. Look at this crowd. Everyone's having a great time, happy fans, happy families, happy kids, everyone's having a good time,” GRNSW’s Chief Executive Officer Rob Macaulay said.
“We are really thrilled about the way the day has turned out, the track is excellent and everyone says the dogs are handling it really well.
“We have shown today that if you put on entertainment and a great show the people will come, we have given them good food, good facilities, entertainment and even better music and of course some great racing.
“The people of the Upper Hunter deserve a facility like this, and I’m sure they will keep coming back here.”
