Pink Diamond shines light on breeders

[Wandering Eyes]

Breeders will be rewarded for the crucial and often unsung role they play in greyhound racing’s success through GRV’s ground-breaking new VicBred Pink Diamond series, to be held next month.

While it’s usually the trainers and owners that are celebrating feature race victories, the innovative Pink Diamond format is inviting breeders to the party.

“I think it’s fantastic breeders will get an opportunity to win some money back,” said astute breeder George Farrugia, who’s enjoyed great success in recent years, racing Group 1 winners Striker Light and True Detective.

“Breeding a litter is very time-consuming and it’s not cheap, with the cost of stud fees and whelping.

“The benefits of the Pink Diamond concept aren’t just financial; we’ve got some fabulous breeders in Victoria and they deserve this type of recognition.”

The inaugural Pink Diamond series will see around $830,000 in prize money and breeders bonuses on offer.

The series will feature heats at Warragul, Ballarat, Shepparton and Geelong and culminate with a massive finals night at Bendigo on Friday, 18 June.

“We’ve got some fabulous breeders in Victoria. In the future, they will be able to say they’ve produced a Pink Diamond winner or the mum has produced a couple of Pink Diamond pups.”

Twelve finals will be staged for Victorian-bred greyhounds of all ages and abilities, including maidens, veterans, female-only, and age and ranking restricted events.

The prize money is huge, highlighted by G1 level $75,000 winner’s purses for special event finals over 425m, 500m and 660m, with a bumper $11,250 bonus going to the breeders of all three winners.

“When breeders sell pups they’re always worried about selling ‘the good one’ but with the Pink Diamond they can still get a financial reward as well as recognition,” Farrugia said.

“In the future, breeders will be able to say they’ve produced a Pink Diamond winner or the mum has produced a couple of Pink Diamond pups.

“I think it’s important the series caters for so many categories of greyhounds. The other big thing is the series is being held on provincial tracks and it’s great that Bendigo gets the chance to showcase its outstanding track on what will be a huge finals night.”

Farrugia says the Pink Diamond will also boost greyhound racing by offering encouragement to potential breeders.

“Personally, together with Wade Gallagher, I breed about five or six litters per year,” he explained.

“I’m comfortable with that so it probably won’t significantly impact my numbers but I think if someone is sitting on the fence about breeding a litter the Pink Diamond concept will encourage them to dip their toe in the water.”

RELATED: Q&A – All you need to know about the Pink Diamond

2021 PINK DIAMOND – Key dates

Friday 4 June: Maiden Heats – Warragul & Geelong

Saturday 5 June: Maiden Heats – Ballarat

Monday 7 June: Maiden Heats – Shepparton

Thursday 10 June: Maiden Semis | Heats for all other events – Warragul & Ballarat

Friday 11 June: Maiden Semis | Heats for all other events – Shepparton & Geelong

Friday 18 June: 12 Feature Finals – Bendigo

  Prize money & Breeder Bonuses
for the 12  PINK DIAMOND  Finals

CLICK ON TABLE TO ENLARGE

Click  HERE  for full conditions.

ABOVE: A must-watch video to help trainers decide which of the 12 x VicBred Pink Diamond events they should nominate their greyhounds for.

12 feature finals at Bendigo | Friday night 18 June | various ages & ability
numerous distances | $830K in prize money & breeder bonuses | VicBred dogs only

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