NSW launch another new $50,000 feature race – The Southern Stars
Southern NSW will be treated to some of the State's best greyhoound racing with the unveiling of yet another lucrative new race on the Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) calendar.
The GRNSW Southern Stars series is expected to attract not only the best local greyhounds but sprinters from around the State and also Victorian visitors, all chasing the $50,000 to-the-winner prizemoney.
The series will be run at three Southern NSW racetracks, with heats at Temora, Wagga and Goulburn, then culminating with the final to be held at Goulburn on July 29.
“It's been a concerted strategy of Greyhound Racing NSW to look at expanding our feature racing into the regions around the State, and this new series is just another extension of that,” GRNSW Chief Operating Officer Wayne Billett said.
“While centres such as Wagga, Temora and Goulburn all have their annual Cups and feature events, we felt there was still a real opportunity for GRNSW to add another significant feature that encompasses that Southern region of NSW.
“As we can see with Wagga's Graeme Hull Memorial Cup heats this Friday – and it's a similar case with the Cups at Temora and Goulburn during the year – feature events in these regions attract good dogs, and we always seem to have kennels from Victoria bringing up greyhounds to compete in these races.
“We felt the region deserved a feature such as this one and I'm sure each of the clubs will make sure the Southern Stars series is a rousing success.”
Temora will kick off the event with 457m heats on July 17, followed by 400m heats at Wagga and 440m heats at Goulburn on July 22, then the 440m final the following Friday, July 29 at Goulburn.
Three non-graded heats for the best 24 will be held at both Temora and Goulburn and two non-graded heats for the best 16 are programmed for Wagga. The winners only advance to the final.
The Southern Stars announcement comes on the heels of GRNSW's launch of the Mega Month of Regional Racing last week, where more than $1 million in feature race prizemoney will be on offer over the next four weeks.
The features commenced last Saturday in Dubbo with the Brother Fox, and will continue with the Gosford Goldmine, the Graeme Hull Memorial Cup, the Chief Havoc Cup at Gunnedah, the world's richest staying event, The Ladbrokes 715 at The Gardens, The Thunderbolt at Grafton, the richest shortcourse event in the world, and then the Derby and Oaks finals at the newly upgraded Richmond circuit.