Buying A Racedog

Identifying and purchasing a greyhound that has a lot of promise takes a trained eye.

Considering that a single standard metropolitan win earns a minimum $5,900 in prize money, and that greyhounds can race around 40 times a year for approximately two years, you can expected to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a young greyhound showing city class potential.

That said, there are many cases of people purchasing greyhounds at a very affordable price that turn out to be ‘diamonds in the rough’.

An experienced trainer – ideally one that has a good track record of buying successful race dogs – can help you source a greyhound with a lot of potential.

Sourcing a trainer

An incentive for a trainer to try and identify a racing greyhound for you is that you could offer them first option to train the greyhound.

An even better solution is to invest in partnership with a trainer, because if he or she is actually a part-owner in your greyhound they are far more likely to persist with him if things don’t go to plan, or to at least help you source another trainer

Prior inspection of the greyhound in a race or trial is also recommended.

Keep in mind that a greyhound’s peak racing age is usually 2.5-3.5 years, and they are generally retired by the time they reach five years of age.

Assessing a greyhound’s potential to race in the city (515 metres and beyond) should also weigh heavily in your decision to purchase a greyhound as prize money in metropolitan races is generally far greater than in provincial races.