Last Friday’s TAB Million Dollar Chase meeting at Wentworth Park has created greyhound racing history with the victory of Handsome Prince in the feature event, reaching more than one million viewers, and wagering turnover on the night shattering the Australasian record.
Total turnover on the night reached $9.4 million, more than $2 million above the previous Australasian greyhound meeting turnover record set in 2018 by the Melbourne Cup. The amount is also believed to be the most ever wagered on a single greyhound meeting in the world.
The figure also smashed the previous best turnover on a NSW greyhound meeting, which was only set seven nights earlier on the TAB Million Dollar Chase semi-final meeting, when $6.71 million was held, representing a stunning uplift of 40%.
Adding to the wagering success were the viewing numbers. The TAB Million Dollar Chase Grand Final was broadcast on the Nine Network immediately following the NRL Preliminary Final between Melbourne and Canberra, and reached 837,000 viewers. This is an uplift of 400% on last year’s free-to-air coverage on Nine Gem, and when Pay TV, retail, pubs and clubs and streaming services are added, the feature race reached more than one million across the country.
“To reach an audience in excess of one million people is an incredible result for the greyhound racing industry in NSW,” Greyhound Racing NSW Chief Executive Officer Mr Tony Mestrov said.
“Nine’s coverage of the TAB Million Dollar Chase Grand Final night was outstanding and to see a 400% year-on-year increase of free-to-air audience reach is really significant for us.
“The promotion and build-up of the night has had a huge impact on our wagering performance, with $9.4 million in turnover across the 10 races a result that has exceeded all expectations - smashing our previous best and setting a new Australasian record for wagering on a greyhound racing meeting.
“Wagering revenue drives the returns to industry participants and we are thankful to our wagering operator partnerships, including race sponsor TAB, for their promotion of the event - and more broadly their promotion of NSW greyhound race meetings across the year, where we are seeing incredible growth.”
Fixed odds betting on the night was just over $7 million, a figure which was almost $2 million more than semi-final night a week earlier, while pari-mutuel wagering held just under $1.3 million and tote derivative betting held $1.1 million.
Wagering on the TAB Million Dollar Chase Grand Final, won by the Peter Lagogiane-trained, $21 chance Handsome Prince, was also record-breaking, with turnover of $2.95 million, up 59% on the Grand Final in 2019.
While the viewing and wagering results are spectacular, welfare continues to be at the forefront for GRNSW, with the series serving as a high-profile vehicle to raise awareness and promote GRNSW’s Greyhounds As Pets (GAP) rehoming program.
“The results of our wagering performance are driving revenue returns that are allowing us to invest in welfare outcomes at unprecedented levels, with a focus on our rehoming programs such as Greyhounds As Pets and the world-first Farmstay sanctuary GRNSW is developing in the Hunter Valley,” Mr Mestrov said.
“All greyhound entry fees from the TAB Million Dollar Chase series, run across 15 regional venues and Wentworth Park, have also been directly donated to the Greyhounds As Pets program, which we have done since the inception of the series, and will continue to do next year.”
