Huge Night Scheduled For State Championship Finals
By Michael Cowley
There may not be National Championship in 2020, but there will be State Championships and that night loom as one of the sport’s bigger nights of racing, all to be showcased during a special two-hour production on Sky Racing.
Back in April following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Greyhound Clubs Australasia announced that with the unanimous agreement of the NSW GBOTA and Greyhound Racing NSW, they would be forced to cancel the 2020 National Championship Finals, which are held annually on rotation, and were due to be held at Sydney’s Wentworth Park this year.
The last time NSW hosted the titles was back in 2015, when one of the greatest dogs of all time, Fernando Bale, took out the Sprint Championship Final, in a staggering 29.26s, the fastest time the superstar ever produced at Wentworth Park.
But while there will be no National Championship deciders for the sprinters or stayers, each State, and NEW ZEALAND, will stage their own Championships, all taking place on August 13.
The industry was also delighted with the news that Sky Racing will showcase the two hours of Championships’ racing on August 13, on the Sky 2 platform.
The significance is that Tabcorp, which owns Sky Racing, recently announced that from August 1, Sky 2 will no longer be a subscription channel, meaning all viewers who have the sport and racing package with Foxtel, will be able to watch, free of charge, all the action from the Championships’ showcase. This will be Sky’s first showcase event on the new free to watch platform.
The broadcast will run from 7.30pm to 9.30pm and include a 30-minute show reviewing the heats and previewing the finals, with the first of the finals scheduled for 8.07pm in Brisbane. Due to time differences, the NEW ZEALAND finals won’t be shown live in the two hour window, but will be reviewed.
Sky will also have hosts as every racetrack around the country, the event will also be showcased on the Sky Active digital service, and a dedicated Catching Pen program will be screened during that week.
NSW will host heats of their Sprint Championship at Wentworth Park on August 8, while the Stayers Championship will be a Best 8, straight final on August 13. Both events will carry $10,000 to the winner prize money.
“It was naturally disappointing that the National Championships had to be cancelled earlier this year, but understandable in the world we are currently living in,” GRNSW Chief Operating Officer Wayne Billett said.
“We are thrilled to be able to stage and crown our own sprint and staying champions - along with the other States and NEW ZEALAND - and be part of what will be a tremendous showcase of our sport on August 13.
“The State titles here in NSW have been much sought after over the years, and have produced some fantastic racing, and been won by some of the stars of our sport. Only last year we saw Good Odds Harada win the NSW title, then be narrowly run down by Premium Share in the National Sprint Final in Perth. Two months later Good Odds Harada would win the TAB Million Dollar Chase.”
No doubt Good Odds Harada - who resumed for trainer Frank Hurst at Bulli on Tuesday night - will be one of the leading contenders in the NSW series.
