On behalf of everyone, I would like to take this opportunity to thank outgoing CEO Tony Mestrov for all his work over the past five years in rebuilding this great industry in NSW, to have it now proudly sitting as a national leader in both racing and in welfare.
As you may already know, Tony will join the Manly Sea Eagles in the NRL as the club's CEO on August 1.
While the industry is naturally disappointed to see him leave, we wish him only success as he embarks on his next challenge.
The process of finding and appointing a new CEO at GRNSW is underway, and this process will be an extensive one.
I have recently been appointed to the role of deputy CEO of GRNSW, which is a genuine honour after a lifelong career in the industry, and while the search is on for our new CEO, I will keep everyone up to date with industry news in this column.
From my early childhood, greyhound racing has been my life.
My mum and dad worked at Dapto Showground, and we lived 100m from the back gate. I spent all the school holidays there, and it became a labor of love for me, and after working in the kennels at Dapto, I went on to fill numerous roles in the industry including stewarding, running race clubs and being chief steward at one point, before rejoining GRNSW in 2015.
This has always been a wonderful industry and I am full of pride with where greyhound racing in NSW is today, but we all know the work never stops, that there is no ceiling for us, and we will continue to make the industry the very best for our animals, our participants, and anyone who wants to be a part of it.
The Thunderbolt
I was fortunate to be at Grafton on Sunday June 19 for the final of The Thunderbolt, and what a fantastic night it was with a large crowd, exciting racing and a thrilling finish to the main race with local Robert Andrews winning with his dog Integrity Mate.
I saw a great quote attributed to Robert after the race about his father who passed away a few years ago.
"When we buried dad, my mum Jan put $50 into one of his pockets just so he would have something to bet with when he arrived upstairs. I reckon he was on Integrity Mate tonight for sure," he was reported to say.
And congratulations on two fronts to Allan Hilzinger, firstly for his appointment as CEO of the NSW Greyhound Breeders Owners and Trainers Association, and secondly as he and his father Keith own Integrity Mate.
Thirlmere
Work has started on the upgrade to the Thirlmere trial track and is expected to be completed in three weeks.
Among the work to be done is an upgrade to the track surface, a new lure motor, a running rail irrigation system and fencing.
This article was produced as part of an ACM partnership with Greyhound Racing NSW.