Tureaud Ushers in New Era for WA Greyhound Racing
20 March, 2016
Greyhound
Paul Stuart’s gun chaser, Tureaud, was crowned the WA Greyhound of the Year by Racing and Wagering Western Australia (RWWA) CEO, Richard Burt, at a function at the new Cannington on Sunday evening.
Tureaud was sparingly raced throughout the year and spelled for six months, but managed to collect 7 wins and 2 placings for a total of $82,160 in stake earnings from his 17 starts.
Tureaud qualified for 4 feature finals, with 3 of them being in Group races, and won the Group 2 All Stars, which is the second biggest sprint race in the state, and the Anniversary Cup.
Tureaud defeated a hot line up of rivals for Greyhound of the Year honours with Astrophysic, Fun Boss and Quartz Bale, worthy finalists.
Chris Halse collected the Leading Trainer Award after preparing 209 winners and 551 placings from his 1013 starters in 2015. His biggest win arrived courtesy of All Strung Out who won the Perth Cup Consolation #2.
Other highlights for Halse included the Galaxy Prelude (My Mate Cobber), Perth Cup Prelude (Star Recall), Winter Sprint (West On Teddy), Express Stake (Who’s Got Snoop) and The Claude Powell (West On Babe).
Nearly 200 people attended Sunday’s award ceremony at Cannington which officially marked the beginning of a new era for Greyhounds WA.
A new $15 million race track, funded by RWWA, has been built adjacent to the old Cannington circuit which closed in 2015 after nearly 40 years of operation.
“RWWA’s significant investment into the development of a new greyhound racing and training facility at Cannington is important for ensuring a sustainable future for the WA racing industry,” said Mr Burt.
The official opening of the new Cannington track will be at the Perth Cup on Saturday 23 April 2016.