I'm certainly not against any greyhound competing or nominating, too be brutally honest in my opinion too many races carrying major prizemoney (Group events, etc.), are selective and or exclusionary, and where possible should be "opened" up to allow more trainers and their greyhounds to compete (but that's for another post and i'm from the era when qualies were common).

My post about " The Thunderbolt" was more about parity, in that, GRNSW set prizemoney levels for short course races at a lower rate compared to those of 431m and further, whereby, rightly or wrongly, the owners and trainers of these greyhounds feel that short course sprinters are "prejudiced" against. In some quarters there is a belief that a percentage of greyhounds that race over short distances do so, not because they aren't capable of running further, but because their trainers don't train them to actually run further, call it laziness, call it convenience, call it whatever, and in some instances i would say this is the case, however, as we know there are many greyhounds which race over the short distances simply because they are incapable of running further, or should I say, incapable of running further in a competitive time, irrespective of training.

Now, GRNSW announce a "Big Money" race with the Final to be run over the sprint distance of 350m, which in essence I would think has been devised for those dogs that aren't capable of running much further, then say 400m (competitively), and as such, these dogs are virtually devoid of any chance of ever realistically competing in most if not all "Big Money" (Group, etc.) races, let's be honest, they'll never compete in races like - the Easter Egg, the Melbourne Cup, the Australian Cup, even the Maitland Cup, etc., etc., why? because first and foremost they can't run the distance; put a top grade short courser in one of those races and yes they may give you a sight for 300m or even 400m but they will capitulate and be "consumed" over the latter stages, however, most top grade 450m plus sprinters, if trained properly, can be and will be very competive over the short distances*, hence, why I posted what I did in my original post ...in short, I only mentioned the possibility of implementing "restrictions", given that the Greyhound calendar is full of "Big Money" (Group, etc.) races run over 450m+, and now there is one programmed for 350m, from a personal perspective it would be nice to see a genuine short courser actually win it, if this is indeed GRNSW's reasoning behind initialising the race.

*as an example, Mark, you train a fabulous greyhound - Castle Warrior, who looks equally as capable over 350m as he is over further as exemplified by his 350m runs/times at Goulburn and his recent fantastic win in the Cyril Rowe at Bulli over 472m, and whom I am sure would be a chance in the race if that is your intention.

As an aside, and irrespective of what, if any criteria/regulations are implemented, good luck to all those owners/trainers who nominate for the race, and hopefully it is a race that coninues to be programmed, afterall, short course greyhounds exist, and thus shouldn't be totally overlooked in terms of a "Big Money"race(s) as they have been in the past ...just my opinion.

I can't argue with that financial logic especially when you look at the make-up of race meetings on a day to day basis and the number of short course (under 431m) races being conducted.

plus country cups use to have consultations for eight dogs now it 2 running for ten thousand,

took away the right for six trainers to compete,

it the way of the world now only a few can have big money the rest of us has to share in the crumbs ,

I do agree that the 2 dog match race consolations are a way of removing the chance of earning a better than usual prize from the other heat place getters who missed out on the finals berth

They had 12 nominations for the heats at Casino and only 11 dogs went around. $2,200 p/m for heats which is only the standard non-graded p/m. Probably silly programming while the "Egg" is on.

Temora drew on 7 dogs for their heats at the weekend. $2,200 standard p/m. Do they run a final next week? Why didn't they make it a final with final p/m of $6,000 to the winner?

The $1 Million on offer should be enough of an incentive, but all heats over the State should carry the same p/m. Perhaps $4,000 for heat winners, $8,000 for Finals. Why should Sydney race for $6,600 in the heats? One in, all in and everyone should be competing for the same p/m right from the get go.

I tried to find what you referred to, but couldn't find it.

If it is true, that's a substantial cut.

EXTERNAL LINK

I think the Cosmic Bonus race was during the MDC carnival

`Rules relating to lay betting or betting to lose
A registered greyhound trainer must not place a bet on a race that their greyhound is participating in unless they are betting on their own greyhound to win.'

I appreciate it is to stop the unscrupulous type betting to lose, but not all trainers like to bet on their greyhound just on the win tote. They like to bet each-way. I guess that would be a breach of the rule or am I misinterpreting the rule?

I've never bet on my dog to lose, but I knew it couldn't win because of the grading system. Grading a dog that has won three wins in a 5th grade that could potentially have dogs in it that have won 10 to 15 wins, just doesn't seem fair. So no bet for me.

What are your thoughts? We can make a comment to GWIC about it.