Saturday’s third annual installment of Greyhound Racing Victoria’s Ready 2 Race Sales is certain to be the best yet in terms of the quality of stock based on Monday’s heats.
Expectations were high going into Bendigo series given the increased number of respected breeders and sought after bloodlines available, however the consistency of impressive performances in the heats would have surprised even the most optimistic person.
Here’s what unfolded at Monday’s heats…
- A total of 132 greyhounds aged between 16-27 months competed in the heats against up to three other greyhounds of a similar age
- A total of 35 heats were conducted, all over 425m
- The heats included a mixture of proven winners, maidens and unraced greyhounds
- A surprisingly high 19 of the greyhounds broke 24.30sec
- The fastest performance of the day came from the Darren McDonald-trained Bremer (pictured above), a winner of six TAB races, who won in 23.967sec
They said it…
“The depth of quality is clearly greater than in the first two years, and the way racing is in Victoria at the moment, there’s a race for virtually every greyhound. That being the case, even some of the lower priced sales will provide plenty of fun for their new owners.”
- Troy Harley, Manager Bendigo Greyhound Racing Association
“There’ll be plenty of opportunities for people to buy quality pups. Last year there were some pups that sold for a bit more money than they were probably worth, but with a greater spread of talent this year it should even out the market and I expect there to be plenty of value-for-money buys.”
- Des Dooley, Manager Sale Greyhound Racing Club
What you’ll see at Bendigo on Saturday…
- From 10:00am greyhounds will compete over 425m against up to three greyhounds that showed similar ability in their heats
- From 1:00pm greyhounds will go to auction
- Crocmedia AFL identities including Craig Hutchison, Dr. Turf and Liam Pickering will be doing a live outdoor radio broadcast into regional areas
- Restaurant, bar and TAB facilities are available (Turfy showed last year he was good for a tip or two on the horses)
