Newcastle today announced plans to stage the richest stayers race in the world of greyhound racing. That’s Newcastle , New South Wales , Australia as opposed to Newcastle Upon Tyne in the North East of England. The new competition is set to be run over 715m around Ladbrokes Gardens in June 2022. Greyhound Racing NSW really are leading the way when it comes to prizemoney in the world of greyhound racing with them already staking claim to the richest greyhound race in the world the $1 million dollar to the winner TAB Million Dollar Chase.
Never a man to shirk a challenge one of the UK’s leading trainers Peter Harnden has already expressed an interest in targeting the competition with his superstar dual category one winning bitch Salacres Pippy. After winning The Stadium Bookmakers Hunt Cup Final at Towcester over 712m in mid November worth £12,500 in a new track record time Pippy then headed to Crayford where she ran out a dominant winner of the Cesarewitch Final which brought in another £10,000 first prize.
Left to right: Peter Harnden, Mark Pierrepont and Guy Pearce with Hunt Cup winner Salacres Pippy.
Towcester 14th November 2021
Photo: © Steve Nash
Harnden said “It’s seriously something I’d look at doing. There is a lot of paperwork to get through and logistically it’s not easy , especially during the current climate. How could you not look at something this big though ? I’ve always said that it’s not about money in this sport , we’re in it for the love of the dogs and seeing them compete. It’s a fact of life though that high prizemoney creates interest and prestige. They do so much right in Australia , the sport is simply on another level to over here and though this might not come off , it’s definitely something I’ll be looking into and I’d hope that it’s something other trainers and owners give a thought to in the years ahead. The world is a much smaller place these days than it used to be and taking part in events like this might just help the sport both here and in Australia. It might just take a little bit of persuasion to tempt some of the Australian trainers up here with their stars though , I’m not quite sure that some of the embarrassing prizemoney we could offer them for winning some of our biggest races would be all that tempting !”.
