June 2: Let’s party at ‘The Creek’

May 31, 2022

By Brisbane Greyhound Club CEO, LUKE GATEHOUSE

If ever there was a time for a party with a few laughs when we could talk about what is great about this industry … well that would be right now.

The big wet has driven everyone mad. It has been more than an inconvenience, it has cost all facets of the industry plenty.

It has been unrelenting and has worn us all down. We thought that after the closure of Albion Park and Capalaba through March and April, after the big flood on February 26, that we would be up and running and stay up and running.

But that has not been the case.

And the uncertainty is also difficult to cope with.

We are hopeful that, as Chase goes to print, the rain will disappear and June will dawn with plenty of sunshine – just in time for the Brisbane Greyhound Racing Club’s 50^th anniversary celebration on Thursday, June 2.

And we are all in the mood for a good time.

The action on and off the track will be sensational. Come along and be a chance of winning a brand new Mitsubishi ASX valued at $30,000!

(Once you have signed up to be a club member, each time you spend $10 or more in a transaction in Pacers & Chasers – greyhound meetings only – you will receive an entry into the draw.)

The final of the BGRC 50th Anniversary Trophy (520m) will be run and won on the big night with the race worth a very handy $50,000.

As Queensland greyhound industry icon Paul Dolan explains on Page 18, there is an amazing story behind the first 50 years of this great club, from our beginnings at the famous Gabba cricket ground in 1972, through the relocation to Albion Park in 1993, to today’s version, which is considered one of the most successful and progressive greyhound clubs in the country.

On June 2 we will toast all that has been great about the BGRC – the brilliant chasers, the amazing trainers, the incredible characters, the phenomenal volunteers.

There will be plenty of talk around great deeds. Which were the best. The fastest. The toughest. The most memorable.

It is fitting that the 50^th anniversary celebration is nestled in the early part of the 2022 TAB Winter Greyhound Racing Carnival, which overall offers $1.9 million in feature prizemoney and includes thirteen Group and Listed races.

Those numbers themselves showcase just how far this club has come and what a significant player it is now on the national scene.

I was fortunate to be a guest at the recent Sandown Cup night in Melbourne and was rapt at the amount of interest there is in our carnival and at the amount of high-profile trainers who have ear-marked the BGRC as the place to be during the Winter Carnival.

The money on offer and the variety of criteria and distances makes this carnival, in my opinion, the best in Australasia.

So, although we are already up and racing in the Winter Carnival, make sure you bookmark the big events still to come:

June 2: Brisbane Greyhound Racing Club’s 50^th anniversary celebration;
June 16: Group 2 Flying Amy Classic (also the Dashing Corsair over710m);
June 23: Super Sprinters and Super Stayers – both Group 3 races and a real ‘Super’ night with races across all five distances (331m, 395m, 520m, 600m, 710m);
July 7: Group 1 $525,000 SKY Racing Brisbane Cup (520m) along with the Group 1 $225,000 TAB Queensland Cup (710m);
July 14: $75,000 TAB Origin Greyhound Sprint 520m; $75,000 TAB Origin Greyhound Distance 710m; $45,000 TAB Origin Greyhound Match Race 520m.

It’s a great line-up. The weather WILL be perfect. So, make sure you are on course.