By Racing Queensland Chief Executive Officer BRENDAN PARNELL
The curtain has been drawn on another successful edition of the TAB Queensland Winter Greyhound Racing Carnival and what a way to do it, with the Maroons winning the Origin Greyhound Series for the first time in four years.
Pleasingly, the Brisbane Cup and Origin Greyhounds were not only broadcast on Sky Racing, but also streamed through 7Plus as part of an exciting commercial arrangement with the Seven Network that will raise the accessibility of live coverage of Queensland greyhound racing across Australia.
New Broadcasting agreement with 7Plus
The new broadcasting agreement with the Seven Network has ensured the TAB Queensland Greyhound Winter Racing Carnival reaches an even greater audience, and there’s more to come.
The $525,000 Brisbane Cup and the $225,000 Queensland Cup, both star-studded Group 1 races, were the first to be showcased on the network’s streaming service 7Plus.
The agreement with the Seven Network provided for all of Queensland’s premier greyhound meetings to be broadcast live and free across the nation throughout July.
The highly popular TAB Origin Greyhound Series was also telecast across 7Plus which was also the Carnival’s finale on July 14.
However, the agreement ensures further widespread coverage in early 2023 when The Group 1 Gold Bullion – the highlight of the Golden Greys Summer Carnival – will also be telecast in early 2023.
Having enjoyed a long and established relationship with the Seven Network, the agreement was aimed at broadening the sport’s appeal and audience.
Younger viewers are turning more to tablets and smartphones to stream their shows on platforms, like 7Plus, which is the way of the future and the way to capture new followers of the sport.
Viewers were guaranteed three hours of racing coverage as a part of each broadcast, while Sky Racing would continue to show every Queensland TAB race throughout the year.
Winter Carnival 2022
The TAB Queensland Winter Greyhound Racing Carnival has proved to be an enormous success on several fronts.
Racing Queensland invested an additional $400,000 in feature prizemoney across the carnival at Albion Park to take prizemoney to $1.5 million.
One of the more significant increases was the Group 1 Sky Racing Brisbane Cup, which increased from $355,000 to $525,000 and was convincingly won by Orchestrate.
Also receiving prizemoney injections were the Group 1 Queensland Cup over 710 metres, won by Collinda Patty, and the $150,000 Group 2 Flying Amy 520m which was taken out by Photo Man.
It was also brilliant to see Queensland greys racing follow in the footsteps of their rugby league counterparts to win the TAB Origin Greyhound series at Albion Park.
It was the first time Queensland had won since the inaugural series in 2018.
Coach Ben Hannant, who played 12 Origin matches for the Maroons, 148 games for the Broncos and 52 for the Cowboys during an 11-year, 245-match career at four NRL clubs, raised the shield on behalf of the Queenslanders!
It capped off a great series and came after a prizemoney increase that facilitated Group status elevation for five events and that investment in raising the profile and prizemoney of greyhound racing has been reflected in an increase in wagering.
There has been a 15% increase in the number of heats and starters for feature events.
There was also a 20% increase in interstate participation and wagering was on a positive trajectory for feature meetings.
Wagering turnover on the Brisbane Young Guns meeting was up 15% year-on-year, while there was an 11% increase on wagering for the Flying Amy meeting and 8% for Super Sprinters night at Albion Park.
NAIDOC WEEK
Racing Queensland will look to strengthen its relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples after launching its latest Reconciliation Action Plan during NAIDOC Week.
RQ had released its Innovate RAP with representatives of the Turrbal People, who are the original inhabitants of Brisbane and the traditional owners of the land at Deagon.
To commemorate the occasion, Songwoman Maroochy Barambah, a Turrbal elder, performed a Welcome to Country for representatives of the Queensland racing industry.
Charlie Chambers Jr, a member of the Jarowair people who created the stunning artwork for the RAP, was also in attendance to officially unveil the Racing Queensland Yarning Circle which he designed and painted.
Minister Grace commended RQ on its ongoing commitment to reconciliation and said she looked forward to fostering closer ties between the Queensland racing industry and Indigenous communities.
RQ’s Innovate RAP sought to embed the knowledge and learning gained from its inaugural Reflect RAP which included its vision for reconciliation to create a future where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people connect with local communities through great racing events – across the breadth of the Sunshine State.
And experience the thrill of racing as attendees, industry participants or employees.
Over the next two years, this vision will enable RQ to make further progress towards improving employment outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, achieving reconciliation goals and strengthening its relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Queensland.
As one of the Sunshine State’s largest employers, providing more than 13,500 full-time jobs and $1.9 billion to the Queensland economy, our goal from the outset was to strengthen relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for the benefit of all Australians.
The Queensland racing industry celebrated NAIDOC Week with showcase races across each code including Bundaberg Greyhound Racing Club on July 11.
Each showcase meeting featured Indigenous ceremonial aspects including a Welcome to Country; Smoking Ceremony; and didgeridoo player.
Queensland racing industry participants were also involved through specially commissioned handlers and winners’ presentation rugs.
After each race, the winning connections of each code received a NAIDOC Week Trophy.
We congratulate the David Raines-trained Social Impact who saluted in the NAIDOC Celebration Chase.
