The Million Dollar Chase (MDC) for a $1,000,000 greyhound winner begins today
The sixth running of the Million Dollar Chase (MDC) begins in earnest on Tuesday with the first of 17 qualifying series heats to be held around New South Wales (NSW).
First run in 2018, the Million Dollar Chase was originally implemented as a one off race that would be the world's richest greyhound race.
The race was an emphatic statement of the return of greyhound racing after Mike Baird's ill-fated NSW greyhound racing.
The event also has a strong focus on the welfare side of the industry, with 100% of all entry fees across the series donated to the NSW Greyhounds as Pets (GAP) program.
In 2019, the sustainability of the race was ensured when Tabcorp's NSW TAB announced the implementation of the laughable bet type, “Odds and Evens”.
In greyhound racing, the race that the new bet type funded was the 2019 Million Dollar Chase.
While Odds and Evens has died a slow and silent death on the NSW TAB, the increased revenue from the growth in greyhound betting with greyhound betting sites has continued to fund the race.
In 2023, for the first time, placegetters in Group 1 Dapto Megastar and Group 2 Black Top secure positions straight into the MDC semi-finals in October.
“We feel the scheduling, plus the added lure of an MDC semi-final berth, will see increased interest, particularly from interstate, in both of these group races,” GRNSW CEO Rob Macaulay said
GRNSW recently moved both the Dapto Megastar Final to September 7, and the Black Top Final to September 22, to accommodate the changes.
Taree greyhound racing will host two qualifying heats of the MDC on Tuesday, August 30, with a further regional final to be held on Tuesday, September 6.
Regional qualifying heats and finals run regularly across 17 NSW greyhound racing tracks over the next 43 days until the MDC Final at Wentworth Park on Friday, October 13.
“It's such a richly unique series in how it traverses the length and breadth of regional and rural townships in NSW – bringing the excitement of our sport far and wide into these communities in search of the ultimate champion,” Macaulay said.
“Over the five years since that first Million Dollar Chase, we have seen so many great success stories come through the regional events, and as we had hoped, the series has in turn given the people of those regional areas the opportunity to see some of our best dogs racing on their local tracks.”
The winner of the 2023 Million Dollar Chase will collect $1 Million in first-place prizemoney.
2023 Million Dollar Chase Schedule
| 2023 Million Dollar Chase Regional Schedule | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 MDC Track | MDC Heats | MDC Q Finals | Distance |
| Taree | 30 August 2023 | 6 August 2023 | 537m |
| Dapto (Megastar) | 31 August 2023 | 7 September 2023 | 520m |
| Goulburn | Not Enough Nominations | 1 September 2023 | 440m |
| Dubbo | 2 September 2023 | 9 September 2023 | 516m |
| Broken Hill | 3 September 2023 | 10 September 2023 | 525m |
| Maitland | 4 September 2023 | 11 September 2023 | 450m |
| Bulli | 5 September 2023 | 12 September 2023 | 472m |
| Casino | 7 September 2023 | 14 September 2023 | 484m |
| Temora | 11 September 2023 | 18 September 2023 | 457m |
| Richmond | 13 September 2023 | 20 September 2023 | 520m |
| Gunnedah | 14 September 2023 | 21 September 2023 | 527m |
| The Gardens (Black Top) | 15 September 2023 | 22 September 2023 | 515m |
| Wagga | 15 September 2023 | 22 September 2023 | 525m |
| Grafton | 17 September 2023 | 24 September 2023 | 450m |
| Nowra | 18 September 2023 | 25 September 2023 | 520m |
| Gosford | 19 September 2023 | 26 September 2023 | 515m |
| 2023 Million Dollar Chase Wentworth Park Schedule | |
|---|---|
| MDC City Qualifiers (Wentworth Park) | 30 September 2023 |
| MDC Maiden, Masters Meteor Heats | 4 October 2023 |
| MDC Semi Finals & Sydney Cup Heats | 6 October 2023 |
| Young Star Heats | 7 October 2023 |
| Million Dollar Chase Finals Night | 13 October 2023 |