The 2022 GRV Board Leadership Award recipient is Track Manager at The Meadows, Cory Hiscock, as announced at the Victorian Greyhound Awards on Friday night.

Racing safety is one of GRV’s key strategic priorities and Cory is a subject matter expert when it comes to the preparation of greyhound racetracks.

He has travelled around Australia and overseas to gain a unique insight into how greyhound tracks operate and are prepared and is regularly called upon to provide expert advice to GRV and to other clubs around Victoria and interstate.

Cory recognised his love for greyhound racing at an early age, having grown up in a racing family in Bendigo, but ‘behind the scenes’ was where he found his real interest.

This interest led to his appointment as Track Manager at Bendigo, followed by his arrival at The Meadows in 1998 where he assisted with the laying of the very first track. The first trials later that year were followed by the first race meeting in February 1999, a testament to the quality of that initial layout.

In his appearance on a ‘Greyhounds are my Life’ segment for GRVextra, Cory said he loved his work.

“I’m very lucky to have a really good team here at The Meadows. We’re all pushing in the same direction. Each person knows their ‘niche’, so I’m very lucky we’ve got a really good team.”

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“There are some trainers (whose opinion) I highly value, because generally they’re not critiquing on a week-to-week basis, it will be periodic. It really makes you prick your ears up and listen to what they have to say.”

While the state of the track is paramount, there’s much more to the role. Cory also leads his team in equipment maintenance, lure driving, tending the gardens and ensuring the public, and participant, facilities are kept ‘world class’.

“I think (The Meadows) is the most well-presented track in the state. I’ve travelled all over Australia and overseas looking at greyhound tracks, (and) in Sandown Park and The Meadows we’ve got two of the very best tracks in the world.”

“Whether you’re driving the lure or standing on the first turn watching them, it’s just a really good thing to be a part of. You see the joy in the faces of the trainers as their dogs come across the line and that’s probably the biggest moment for me.”

“Greyhound racing is a really big part of my life. I’m very passionate about how my work within the industry forwards the industry and makes it better.”

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