She captured the two biggest races on the NSW calendar and the hearts of all in the industry, now the JODIE Lord-trained She’s A Pearl has added to her haul, announced today as the 2022 NSW Greyhound of the Year.
She’s A Pearl’s award was celebrated by more than 250 guests at Greyhound Racing NSW’s gala event held in Sydney.
During a phenomenal year on the racetrack, She’s A Pearl won 16 of her 20 NSW starts and at one stage won 13 races in succession.
The jewels in her 2022 were victories in the Group 1 Ladbrokes Golden Easter Egg in April, then less than a month later she claimed the world’s richest greyhound race, the TAB Million Dollar Chase, both at Wentworth Park.
Another milestone was reached in 2022 when on a November, Wednesday night at Wentworth Park, She's A Pearl became the greatest prizemoney earner the sport has produced.
The $4,500 winner's cheque that night extended her career earnings to a remarkable $1,367,970, surpassing the previous benchmark of $1,365,175 set by Victorian star Fanta Bale.
“On behalf of GRNSW I want to congratulate JODIE and Andy Lord and the Punters’ HQ team (the owners) on winning this prestigious award,” GRNSW Chief Executive Officer Rob Macaulay said.
“From early on in 2022 when she went on that fabulous winning run, She’s A Pearl not only claimed features such as the Ladbrokes Golden Easter Egg and the TAB Million Dollar Chase, but she captured the hearts of the racing public, and this award today is thoroughly deserved, and She’s A Pearl will now sit on the honour roll, alongside so many champions of the past.
“I must also congratulate all of our participants on another successful year in 2022 as we started to return to normal after the previous two challenging years of dealing with COVID-19, and also offer my congratulations to all the award winners today.
“It’s incredibly important that we celebrate and recognise the outstanding human and animal performances and achievements in our sport each year, but also, as we have today, look forward to all the exciting things which are ahead in the coming year.”
One of the more popular recipients was the winner of the GRNSW Distinguished Services Award. For the first time this award went to a greyhound, the Judy and John Richardson-trained Sunburnt Highway.
Sunburnt Highway gained cult status during his career particularly when he raced at Wentworth Park where in early 2022 he registered win number 35 at Headquarters, surpassing the record number of Wentworth Park wins previously held by Bessy Boo.
In total Sunburnt Highway won 51 races and was placed in 47 of his 152 starts, amassing $355,675 in earnings. At Wentworth Park he won a staggering 39 times before his retirement in May, with the highlight being the 2020 win in the $100,000 Masters Meteor final.
She’s A Pearl’s trainer JODIE Lord took out her third successive Metropolitan Trainer of the Year, courtesy of her greyhounds winning 92 races in town, and she also claimed a fifth NSW Trainer of the Year title, winning 132 races around the State, the award adding to her successes in 2014, 2017, 2018, and 2021.
One of the greatest of all time, the 2015 NSW Greyhound of the Year Fernando Bale, continues to be a star off the track, and he made it three successive Sire of the Year awards in 2022.
During the year, the progeny of Fernando Bale won 2,591 races and were placed 4,880 times in NSW events, earning a staggering $11,125,191.
Zipping Lilly was crowned Dam of the Year with her progeny - which included Zipping Kyrgios and Zipping Maserati - winning 53 races and amassing more than $600,000 in prizemoney during 2022.
Broodbitches Kingsbrae Missy, Red Sox Ethics and Hope’s A Chance each collected Awards for Breeding Excellence.
Wagga trainer Jack Strutt who, with Stagger Out Lee, won the Group 1 Bold Trease in November, was rewarded for his breakout year with the Young Achiever of the Year award, while Grafton’s John Faddy, who has worked at the local club for 33 years, was recognised as the 2022 Volunteer of the Year.
The prestigious Allen Wheeler Medal - presented by his daughter-in-law Jan - was awarded to Ron Arnold.
Ron’s life has been in greyhound racing, working in many fields, most notably the media. Ron is also regarded as the voice of Wentworth Park where he is the venue’s MC and conducts on-track interviews.
