Kristy Sultana’s brilliant sprinter Flying Ricciardo has joined greyhound racing’s elite by being crowned the 2020 NSW Greyhound Of The Year at a gala presentation ceremony held in Sydney on Sunday.
In a year where feature racing was heavily impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19, Flying Ricciardo was the standout greyhound in the State, winning the Group 1 Sportsbet Dapto Megastar, the Group 2 Sires On Ice Black Top at The Gardens, the inaugural Ladbrokes Gold Muzzle Auction Final at Wentworth Park, winning races at seven different tracks, and reaching the Grand Final of the TAB Million Dollar Chase.
“To win the NSW Greyhound Of The Year is incredibly special and a massive honour, not just for me but my entire family, particularly for my dad who has been involved in the industry for a long time and Ricci has been the best dog he has ever been involved with,” Kristy said.
“Flying Ricciardo was a once in a lifetime dog and the year we all had in 2020 was at times surreal.
“The highlight was undoubtedly his Group 1 win the Megastar at Dapto. Nobody thought he would be able to win if he couldn’t lead, yet he Chased down one of the very best, a superstar in Simon Told Helen, and scored a win I will never forget.
“I want to congratulate all the winners not only from last year but all the other years we recognised today."
Flying Ricciardo set the tone for his career with his debut in May 2020 with a track record performance over the 340m at Bulli, and during the year he raced 23 times for 19 wins and three runner-up placings.
After producing the second fastest run ever at Wentworth Park, a 29.22s performance in March 2021, Flying Ricciardo was retired to stud and has already proven extremely popular with breeders.
Iconic greyhound Fernando Bale whose progeny won over 2,100 races and more than $5.7 million in prizemoney, was crowned NSW Sire of the Year, while outstanding producer Chica Destacada, which produced 60 winners in 2020, claimed the Dam of the Year.
The 2020 Trainer of the Year awards went to Jodie Lord (Metropolitan) who won 38 races at Wentworth Park, while Andrew Bell finished atop the NSW Premiership point scoring ladder, to take that title.
The Greyhound Of The Year Awards were scheduled to be held in June, but the COVID-19 lockdown of Sydney saw the event postponed until Sunday.
The ceremony had not been held since 2014, so the return of the function in 2021 allowed for Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) to present the awards for the six years when the Greyhound Of The Year was not held.
“It was wonderful to be able to finally recognise not only the achievements and outstanding performers of the past year, but to look back and acknowledge the stars of our industry from the previous six years,” GRNSW Chief Executive Officer Tony Mestrov said.
“We should never shy away from celebrating the magnificent achievements in our industry here in NSW, and that was why it was critical to revive this awards’ ceremony, and to once again make it a regular part of our calendar each year.
“On behalf of GRNSW I want to congratulate each and every winner from today’s ceremony, from those back in 2014 who are finally enjoying their day in the sun, to the 2020 winners headlined by the brilliant Flying Ricciardo, our Greyhound Of The Year.”
The 2020 Sire and Dam were also crowned as Greyhounds Of The Year in 2015 (Fernando Bale) and 2014 (Chica Destacada).
In 2014 Cosmic Rumble won the Sire of the Year, Sirocco Lass the Dam of the Year, and Jodie Lord the Trainer of the Year.
In 2015 Magic Sprite was voted Sire of the Year, Cristalle the Dam of the Year, and Anthony Azzopardi the Trainer of the Year.
In 2016 leading mentor Jason Mackay took out the Trainer of the Year, and his Melbourne Cup winning dog Ando’s Mac was crowned Greyhound Of The Year.
The 2016 Sire award again went to Magic Sprite, with Lagoon Lowanna awarded the Dam of the Year.
2017’s Ladbrokes Golden Easter Egg winner Striker Light took out the Greyhound Of The Year for that year, with Barcia Bale winning the first of three consecutive Sire of the Year awards, Ebby Miss winning the Dam of the Year, and Jodie Lord winning another Trainer of the Year trophy.
Super stayer Poco Dorado was crowned the 2018 Greyhound Of The Year, her mother Chica Destacada took out her first Dam of the Year award, while Barcia Bale (Sire) and Jodie Lord (Trainer) continued their winning runs.
TAB Million Dollar Chase winner Goods Odds Harada was recognised as Greyhound Of The Year in 2019. His mother Solar Pak was crowned Dam of the Year through the exploits of her offspring including Good Odds Harada and Feral Franky, Barcia Bale completed his threepeat of Sires’ awards, while Jason Mackay won another Trainer’s title.
