2012 NSW Country Challenge Series Schedule & Dates Announced
Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) has today released the official schedule for the 2012 Country Challenge, announcing a revised calendar to reflect the series' growing popularity.
Now in its sixth year, the GRNSW Country Challenge has become one of the major events on the industry's calendar, with regional and rural trainers keen to identify a greyhound in their kennel that can compete through the series.
As part of the series' constant evolution, the next edition of the GRNSW Country Challenge will be held in the 2012 calendar year, instead of the previous September-July schedule.
The new format will give participants greater choice as to which events they contest in the series with less scheduling clashes. It will also allow the K.S. Black & Co. Country Challenge Showdown – where the top eight point scorers in the series are invited to compete at Wentworth Park for $25,000 in prizemoney – to be held in Spring as opposed to the middle of Winter.
GRNSW Chief Executive Brent Hogan said the new dates for the GRNSW Country Challenge would allow for the series to build on its continued success.
“The success of the Country Challenge shows how the sport of greyhound racing is thriving at the grassroots level,” he said.
“This new schedule will allow the stars of the Country Challenge to take centre stage at historic Wentworth Park at a time when Spring feature racing is in full swing. It also gives each individual club that hosts a leg of the Country Challenge the opportunity to broaden the appeal of greyhound racing to their local community. Trainers and owners also benefit from greater prizemoney.”
GRNSW's contribution to the first five years of the Country Challenge concept stands at $822,500 with a further $137,500 to be tipped into the forthcoming series.
The 2012 GRNSW Country Challenge will be held at 20 Non-TAB tracks throughout regional and rural NSW with each venue hosting heats and a final.
Greyhounds accumulate points according to their place in each individual final with connections of the highest-scoring greyhound at the end of the series proper to collect $12,500. The top eight greyhounds will then be invited to compete at Wentworth Park in the K.S. Black & Co. Country Challenge Showdown on Saturday October 13 where they will compete for a further $25,000 in prizemoney.
The full schedule for the 2012 Country Challenge can be downloaded here:
2012 Country Challenge Dates Calendar