A message from GRV’s Chair, Peita Duncan. Welcome to a special edition of Greyhound Monthly Victoria for December 2020 and January 2021. It has been a truly eventful year for our sport both in terms of the challenges we faced and how the greyhound community responded to those challenges. To keep racing under extremely difficult and at times stringent requirements was testament to the dedication, commitment, patience and passion we all share for our sport. All of Victoria’s greyhound racing community rallied, from participants and their families, frontline staff at race meetings, clubs and volunteers at the track and, at GAP. On behalf of the GRV Board and team, we give heartfelt thanks for this truly remarkable effort by everyone. We also delivered the biggest racing program in Victorian history with 26 meetings a week by the end of the year which attracted record wagering and new national and international broadcast slots. Off the track, we continued to be a world leader in integrity and welfare, taking significant steps forward in safer racing and finding homes for thousands of retired racers. For 2021 and beyond, GRV will continue to ensure it provides a safe work environment for participants, their dogs, clubs, and GRV staff. We will continue to grow both the race program and prizemoney pool to increase returns to participants. You will also see further investment in club infrastructure and safe racing including an increased effort in making GRV’s own processes more user-friendly for participants. Finally, we wish you a safe, prosperous and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and look forward to seeing everyone back at the track in 2021.
CEO's Update. Firstly, I would like to thank everyone involved in Victorian greyhound racing for how you all came together to work in a very collegiate way through what has been the most challenging year in our sport’s history. All this effort is now paying off as COVID restrictions lift and Victoria’s greyhound racing clubs open up again for all participants and spectators. However, I do ask you to keep following club directions about attendee limits and density requirements for indoor and closed spaces and to keep wearing masks indoors and make regular use of hand sanitisers. And as part of this easing of restrictions, I am pleased to announce that TAB outlets and book-makers are now returning to clubs as well.
GREYHOUND MONTHLY VICTORIA DECEMBER 2020
If you can’t make it to the track but want to keep on top of all the action, GRV’s Watchdog app is being continually upgraded with new features like race card refresh, compatibility for 13+ races and more Surepick data rolled out last month and there will be more upgrades by the end of the year. And there is now also more coverage and more races. Sky Racing’s broadcasts of our Saturday morning meetings is now joined by coverage of three additional Victorian meetings a week on Sky Racing 1. In addition, a trial of 13 races will soon begin at some clubs with these meetings tailored to give greyhounds more opportunities to gain a start while boosting revenue and returns to participants. One major racing highlight we can look forward to in the coming year is the new Traralgon track, which is on schedule to be completed by mid-2021. It will follow Horsham as one of the most advanced greyhound tracks in the world, setting new standards as a safe workplace for racing dogs and with a design that adds an exciting new option to Victoria’s racetrack collection. While it is great to be out in the sun again, it is also a reminder that the hottest time of the year is nearly on us. So, it is very important that all kennels and other greyhound facilities have fire management plans in place and have the location of their nearest registered Local Evacuation centre included in their EHMP. (Continued on page 11)
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