CEO’s Monthly Update
Alan Clayton
November 2018
It’s been another action-packed month for Victorian greyhound racing with a lot happening on and off the track.
One of the highlights was the Victorian Greyhound Awards at Crown on Thursday, 18 October which you can read more about in this month’s issue. It was a great night for celebrating a year of achievement, not least Fanta Bale’s historic second Victorian Greyhound of the Year award, and I congratulate all the 2018 nominees, awardees and inductees.
On the track, we enjoyed a great win by Aston Kimetto in the Geelong Gold Cup on 26 October followed the next evening by Poke The Bear taking out the 2018 Topgun. Go Commando also had a great run at the 2018 TAB Great Chase Grand Final, winning $10,000 for Broadmeadows Disability Services, one of the 50 disabled care community groups at The Meadows on 24 October. And members of GRV’s Leadership team and I went to Sydney for the Million Dollar Chase on 20 October. It was a very entertaining night and I congratulate GRNSW and Wentworth Park on a great effort.
Much has been happening off the track as well. GRV’s Safe Racing Initiative is making good progress. Racing injury data has been supplied to all clubs and GRV is now working with each club individually to coordinate a collaborative approach to this issue. To date, GRV has met with Sale, Traralgon, The Meadows, Healesville and Sandown clubs, with the rest to follow in the near future, and these discussions have been very positive and productive. The Safe Racing Initiative will also explore off track issues such as training and preparation methods for dogs and GRV has also received advice from an independent expert panel to identify areas not yet addressed.
We have also been reviewing GRV’s Penalty Guidelines for Prohibited Substances and completed initial consultation with industry bodies, including the Industry Consultative Group and the Office of the Racing Integrity Commissioner. GRV is now seeking feedback on these guidelines from participants and the broader community by 20 November 2018. The draft guidelines and information on providing your feedback can be found here.
Following on from the sport’s recent rebranding, GRV is now looking at more ways to improve the racing and wagering experience in Victoria. We are working with the Racing Reference Group to identify and develop innovative new race day programs that will give more dogs more opportunities to race. GRV is also developing a new form guide for mobile devices that will deliver racing fields, form, tips, news and betting data and then live streaming of Victorian greyhound races and you can find out more in this edition of the Monthly.
In other news, GRV Chair Bernie Carolan will be visiting all the clubs to get the input of their presidents, committees and managers on refreshing GRV’s strategic priorities. He has already met with the National Coursing Association
and will be meeting with all the racing clubs over the coming months.
Looking ahead, The Meadows is hosting a Greyhound Community Day on 18 November for all greyhound lovers and their dogs. Like previous Community Days, it’s a very family-friendly event with entertainment, food trucks, giveaways, GAP dogs looking for forever homes and a wide variety of greyhound-related activities from veterinary talks to dog grooming and care spas to track tours. And of course we have the Melbourne Cup on 23 November. It is the race that makes champions and I hope to see you there.