Family was the focus on and off the track as the Muswellbrook club hosted the richest race ever held at their venue on February 4.
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A large crowd was not deterred by warm temperatures and the action was hot on the track with Ritza Debra shattering the track record in winning the $25,000 event.
Ritza Debra is trained by Mark Gatt, owned by his father Frank and handled at the track by Mark's brother Daniel, himself an accomplished Group 1 winning trainer, with Daniel's son Liam also on track helping his dad.
"It's a generation to generation thing and it's family.
"We're close family, and to be able to share this with my son makes it even better," Daniel said.
"This industry is about family.
"You look at it. It's like your husbands and wives, your brothers and sisters, mothers and daughters.
"It's fantastic. It's what it's all about."
The Gatts not only took home the major prize but their other finalist Leg Speed - who set the track record broken by Ritza Debra in the previous week's heats - finished second, with Craig Chappelow's Group 1 winner Embrace in third place.
Reinvesting
The Grafton Greyhound Racing Club is one of the most progressive in NSW, and it has recently introduced another new initiative, reinvesting in the industry with flow-on effects for the local community.
Grafton has become the first club in NSW to pay prize money for all runners, adding returns for those who finish in fifth through to eighth place.
"We wanted to make sure that our local trainers are well supported, and you can see already the flow-on effect it has with the money back into the local economy," Grafton chief executive officer Brennan Naidoo said.
"We now have $40 prize money for those in fifth to eighth place, plus the $60 travel subsidy which is paid by GRNSW.
"The board made the decision on the back of what we were doing with increased sponsorship revenue.
"We wanted to make sure we weren't sitting on our hands with that revenue and put it back into the industry."
GBOTA chief
The Greyhound Breeders, Owners and Trainers Association have announced that interim chief executive officer Daniel Weizman has been appointed to the position on a permanent basis.
Mr Weizman has been acting in the role since June 2023.
River features
They are both new to the feature racing calendar but The Richmond at Casino and The Clarence at Grafton have attracted great interest.
The two races are middle-distance events worth $25,000 to the winner, and perfect lead-ups for next month's $125,000 Ladbrokes Country Classic at Dubbo.
The Richmond final is scheduled for February 13, while The Clarence decider will be run on February 25.
This article was produced as part of an ACM partnership with Greyhound Racing NSW.
