February 2024 | Peaky Boo

Greyhound of the Month for February was Peaky Boo for trainer Ben Rawlings, who had four starts for the month with three wins and a third, his highlight being the SA Final of the Launching Pad series and booking his spot across the border at Sandown in the rich Group 2 series.

The son of Tommy Shelby and West On Poppy started the month off in blistering fashion, winning his Heat of the time honoured SA St Leger in a flying 30.41, and then ran a handy third in the Final without having much luck as a short priced favourite. He then stepped out in the Heats of the SA Launching Pad creating a huge impression in winning by almost 10 lengths in a brilliant 30.29 for the 530m journey. As a very short priced favourite in the Final he was made to work hard for the win but found the line in first place , winning by a length in 30.82 and booking his spot in Victoria.

At the end of the month Peaky Boo’s record stood at 9 starts for 5 wins and 1 placings and earnings around $15,000.

January 2024 | Fiorano

Greyhound of the Month for January was Fiorano for trainer Ashlee Griffiths, who had two starts for the month with one win and one second, his highlight being the listed SA Sprint Championship Final. It was a tight month of voting, with Fiorano just edging out kennel mate Adhana Rico and the Ron Schadow trained Victa Marli.

The son of Black Magic Opal and Zipping Sassy started the month off with a solid second in the Heats of the SA Sprint before stepping out in the Final as one of the favourites. He was able to jump to the front early in the listed feature and ran brilliant time in the lead to stave off all challengers and win by a neck in 30.41 for the 530m journey.

At the end of the month Fiorano’s record stood at 38 starts for 15 wins and 7 placings and earnings around $67,000.

  1. Current Members of the 2023 SA Greyhound of the Year (GOTY) Judging Panel are Todd Gray, Grant Stewart,  Josh Evans, Matthew Herrmann, Shaun Mathieson and Greg Barber.

  2. After each calendar month of racing, each panellist will be asked to vote for the SA Greyhound of the Month (GOTM) by nominating a 1st choice (4 votes), 2nd choice (2 votes) and 3rd choice (1 vote). The GOTM is to be SA Trained.
     
  3. Votes are tallied and a GOTM winner is announced. In the case of one or more greyhounds having the equal highest number of votes, they will be named equal winners for that month.
     

  4. All GOTM winners, including equal winners, will be considered when the GOTY Judging Panel selects the finalists for the GOTY. The panel may consider other greyhounds that may not have won a GOTM for the GOTY finalists. To be eligible for GOTY, a finalist must have been domiciled and trained in South Australia in the year of the award for a period of not less than 120 days.

  5. When casting votes for the GOTY, the panel is to pay particular attention to all South Australian race starts, but also take into account achievements out of the state in that year.

  6. The race records and achievements for the year of all GOTM winners and relevant other greyhounds will be sent to each member of the Judging Panel prior to the selection of GOTY Finalists. Panel members may request greyhounds to be included in the list for consideration.

  7. A meeting shall be convened of the GOTY Judging Panel at which the panel will be asked to select five finalists to be included for voting purposes to establish the GOTY. This meeting will also select Finalists for the SA Distance GOTY, SA Sprint GOTY and SA Bred GOTY.

  8. The names of the selected finalists and voting slips and envelopes will be sent to each member of the Judging Panel.

  9. Members of the Judging Panel will be asked to cast their votes by nominating a 1st choice (5 points), 2nd choice (4 points), 3rd choice (3 points), 4th choice (2 points) and 5th choice (1 point) and place the voting slip in the envelope provided and return.

  10. Once all votes have been received, the CEO of Greyhound Racing SA, Racing Manager and Integrity Manager will open the sealed envelopes and tally the votes (1st choice = 5 points, 2nd choice = 4 points, 3rd choice = 3 points, 4th choice = 2 points and 5th choice = 1 point).

  11. The greyhound with the highest number of points will be named GOTY. In the case of one or more greyhounds having the equal highest number of votes, they will be named equal winners.

  12. The GOTY winners’ name/s will be announced at a function on a date and at a venue to be determined by Greyhound Racing SA.