Caption: Champion Queensland trainer Tony Brett with his latest star, Sentenced. They are ready for the southern invasion. (Photo: Box 1 Photography)

By Brisbane Greyhound Racing Club CEO LUKE GATEHOUSE

Goodbye 2020. Bring on the New Year and all the blue sky it promises.

That’s the mantra of not only the Queensland greyhound racing, but also the industry across the nation … and the wider community as well.

Right now the Brisbane Greyhound Racing Club is celebrating one of the stellar periods of our calendar – the Golden Greys Summer Carnival.

We are busy, but ‘good busy’. COVID is still a threat and our safeguards are up, but for the main the virus is one more foe that has been faced and beaten.

We are focused on the positives. And there are plenty of those. Soon, many of the nation’s best chasers will march north with their star-studded entourages.

Eeigning national Greyhound of the Year, Simon Told Helen, already a winner at Albion Park, is likely to be here.

But he won’t be alone. ‘The Creek’ not only offers great racing and lucrative prizemoney, but, we believe, the best hospitality of any track in Australasia.

And the ‘Invaders’ know that they are not coming up for easy pickings. The locals are fiercely parochial and always tough to beat on our home track.

This carnival is already unearthing some home-grown gems, but there will be even greater stories told by the time the $235,000 Group 1 Gold Bullion (520m) is run and won on February 4.

So, let the lids ping on 2021. We are hitting the ground at pace.

And the view in front is compelling: Great racing, big money on offer, the unfolding plans for a new race complex in Queensland’s  south-east, booming interest in our sport and a workforce that is not only more resilient than any, but as professional as any.

And of course at the centre of this are the pride of our sport – the greyhounds. The one sure bet in our industry.